A new day for beekeeper representation in New Zealand has dawned with Honey and Bees NZ (H&BNZ) having called for both new members and nominations for directors of the successor organisation to Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ), as efforts to amalgamate New Zealand Beekeeping Inc (NZBI) continue.

Beekeepers are renowned for their gusto for a winter conference, and this off-season Mānuka Orchard’s Open Day on July 24 will again be their best bet, with the Bay of Plenty honey processing and storage facility inviting the beekeeping industry to the free event.

While still short on details publicly, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is continuing to work behind the scenes to bring about an apicultural roundtable tentatively titled ‘New Zealand Honey and Bee Alliance’, “to assist the sector in building resilience, profitability and success”.

Tribal Therapeuticals Ltd of Northland is preparing to launch a “tea tree” essential oil and honey venture that it believes can generate NZD270m in export revenues over a 10-year period. The US state of California is identified as the primary export market and the directors believe the venture can blossom into a billion-dollar industry. Financing via private placement and crowdfunding is envisaged. Australian interests appear to anchor the venture.

The Trust tasked with helping beekeepers eliminate American foulbrood (AFB) in New Zealand has a new independent chairperson. Simon Cook, a kiwifruit grower with a passion for biosecurity, enters the role at New Zealand Bee Health and Biosecurity (NZBB) having recently vacated the top chair at Kiwifruit Vine Health (KVH).

Winter will soon turn to spring and the humble honey bee will once again be called on to pollinate a wide variety of flowers essential to New Zealand’s fruit, vegetable and seed industries. We explore the relationship between growers, bees and beekeepers from the perspective of some of the country’s largest horticultural companies, learning that in a world of constant technological adaptations, honey bees are still hard to beat.

Caravan Honey of the US has moved to enter “settlement discussions” with Mānuka Charitable Trust (MCT) in the conflict over THE MĀNUKA EFFECT trademark. AUNU Beauty of New York, a brand incubated by Caravan, uses this trademark for its range of skincare products said to contain Comvita mānuka honey.

The immigration minister says senior Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) staff misled her about a failed IT project costing $33million. Former top bureaucrat Ian Fletcher explains that such public-department projects, which can promise much, often suffer a sad ending, especially in New Zealand.

Veteran Hawke’s Bay beekeeper John Berry goes down memory lane, exploring the sights and smells of the nectar-abundant rewarewa tree and the bounty it provides bees and beekeepers alike.

Despite the government’s major funding support for the yellow-legged hornet incursion in Auckland expiring on June 30, and further backing yet to be announced, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) say they have the resources to conduct present activities. Things could change in spring though, as the government department seeks to understand the success level of the response so far.

It’s a term most beekeepers would have heard often ‘integrated pest management’ (IPM), but what does it actually mean and what does it look like in practice, in the hives? Vita Bee Health commercial director Sebastian Owen not only has the simple, clear and concise answers to those questions, but explains how the world-leading bee health company’s range of products can form a reliable IPM strategy.

Just days away from the first of a series of six one-day workshops around New Zealand discussing breeding for varroa resistance in honey bees, the Bee Breeding NZ Group, led by Rae Butler and Linda Newstrom-Lloyd, answer their most frequently asked questions.