New Zealand Honey Strategy resets industry ambitions for a strong future
20 February 2024 New Zealand Honey Strategy resets industry ambitions for a strong future A plan to revitalise New Zealand’s honey sector and set it on a new, more sustainable and profitable path for...
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Mānuka honeydew?
Q. Is there an aphid (or another bug) that lives on mānuka and secretes a honeydew that is active? Dr Ronald van Toor is a Senior Scientist at Plant and Food Research, working in bioprotection. A. I am...
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Tutin in pollen?
Q. Is bee pollen at risk of tutin contamination, or does tutin only affect honey? Dr Linda Newstrom-Lloyd is a Trees for Bees botanist. A. The green parts and the sap of the tutu plant contain tutin, a...
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Old hiveware?
Q. A neighbour has some old hiveware in a barn that he doesn’t want. What is the best way to deal with it? Ken Brown is President of the Auckland Beekeepers’ Club and a Land Based Training Apiculture...
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Drones any good?
Q: What good are drones in my hive? Do they just eat stores and help mites? Should I remove them? A: There are between a few hundred to a couple of thousand drones in a hive during the summer. Many...
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Test for varroa?
Q. I treat my hives regularly and follow the manufacturers’ instructions to the letter. Is it really necessary to test for [varroa] mites? A. While checking for American foulbrood (AFB) is a legal...
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Do bees grieve?
Q. Do bees grieve? A. A very interesting question. First, we must ask if bees have the capacity to grieve or even feel any emotions. With only one million neurons, it is unlikely that they have the...
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Queenless colony?
Q. If a colony is queenless and there’s no brood to raise a new queen, would they stay, swarm or die? A. If there isn’t any viable brood, they can’t raise a queen. A queen can only be raised from a...
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Who’s in charge?
Q. Who is in charge inside the hive? The queen or the workers (foragers)? Good question. While it is commonly thought that she is called the queen because she is in charge, the hive can be likened to...
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Queen outside hive?
Q. My queen came outside the hive for some reason. A. With so little context, it is difficult to give a definitive answer as to why this happened. Assuming that she came out alone and went back in, we...
View ArticleHoney has a plan and is sticking to it
29 May 2024 Honey has a plan and is sticking to it By Karin Kos, Chief Executive of Apiculture New Zealand Farmers Weekly’s front-page article last week would have readers believing the end is nigh...
View ArticleNZ Honey Strategy receives funding boost
4 June 2024 New Zealand Honey Strategy receives funding boost The New Zealand’s honey sector’s plan for a more sustainable and future has received a funding boost through MPI’s Sustainable Food and...
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Stingless drones
Q. Why don’t drones sting? A. Only female insects sting. This is because the sting has evolved from the ovipositor, which lays eggs. We can see this today in parasitoid wasps where she lays an egg...
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Checking hives in winter
Q. I’m a second-year beekeeper, I lost my hives last winter. Should I check my hives in the winter? A. It depends. Like most things in beekeeping, context is everything. There is the dilemma that going...
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Starting an apiary
Q. How does one start, and increase an apiary in and around Carterton? A. It depends on whether you want to be a hobbyist or commercial beekeeper. In the first case the best step would be to join a...
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Selling beeswax
Q. Can I sell my beeswax if it has been processed in a NP1 kitchen? A. If you are operating under a National Programme (NP) 1 Guidance and want to process beeswax for sale that is not for human or...
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Raising the standard
To get a behind-the-scenes look at how international standards for honey and hive products are being developed, Karen Allan caught up with the New Zealanders who are putting in the hard work and late...
View ArticleNew honey industry organisation proposal
New honey industry organisation proposal open for industry feedback Apiculture New Zealand and the Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association (UMFHA) have shared plans with their members on a proposal to...
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Getting to the culmination of the season
ABOUT THE APIARY: SUMMER 2024-25.Barry Foster. Summer marks, in numerous ways, the culmination of the beekeeping season. Starting with the placement of hives on various summer sites for a variety of...
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New toolkit for attracting and retaining great staff
BUSINESS.Fiona Windle, Food and Fibre Centre of Vocational Excellence Losing a worker and then having to find and train a new one can be costly and time-consuming. Keeping employees happy not only...
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