Some of the most pressing issues facing beekeepers were presented and discussed at an open day hosted by honey storage and trading facility Mānuka Orchard on July 26, and owner Logan Bowyer tipped at a business plan to help beekeepers, and New Zealand, best realise honey’s value.
Paengaroa Community Hall in the Bay of Plenty was once again the host venue for around 70 of Mānuka Orchard’s beekeeping clients and supporting businesses, for the third consecutive year. Given the event’s location, in the heart of kiwifruit country, it is unsurprising that pollination was a large talking point, along with the honey industry.
A wide variety of experts addressed those gathered, including Bowyer detailing the work of his facility.
Mānuka Orchard currently has 3200 drums of honey stored on site, although they have consistently had about 4000 on site at any one time in the past year. In that period, over 2000 drums of honey have been processed through their various services. Currently 75% of honey on site is stored at 4°c, which was the same as reported at the corresponding event in 2023.
Perhaps lost somewhat in a busy day of industry chatter was Bowyer unveiling his plans for a beekeeper-owned business which he hopes will take honey to the consumer. “Beekeepers need a stake in the retail product margin,” he explained. Details were few, but Bowyer was at pains to point out the value that is not being realised by not just beekeepers, but New Zealand as a nation, when bulk honey is shipped offshore.
The need for a “national honey stocktake” is the number one priority in the honey industry which needs action, the day’s host also stressed. Without a clear picture of how much honey is in storage around the country the industry is actually at risk of dropping below a critical supply threshold, Bowyer warns.
“If we get that stocktake, we can all work with better advice and make better decisions. Perhaps we could come up from the current market drop without a sharp spike,” Bowyer said.
The issue of C4 sugar levels in mānuka honey limiting its value is another huge issue for New Zealand to tackle, with improved testing methods required, Bowyer believes.
Outside of that analysis from the Mānuka Orchard owner, some of the key points raised by others were:
· While beekeepers might often feel put out by the Ministry for Primary Industries, Dennis Collins of their new On Farm Support division (which has 44 people on the ground across the country) made a strong showing in Paengaroa by detailing their desire to better understand beekeeper needs and present them to Wellington, all while acting as a contact point for the rural sector to MPI. “It’s the Ministry for Primary Industries, not the Ministry of,” he reinforced.
· “If you can create a brood break, it is absolutely awesome,” Russell Smith of Beequip NZ said of oxalic acid fogging of hives to control varroa. He offered advice around the use of oxalic treatments, advising use of their Beequip strips for a six to seven week period, maximum, before replacement.
· Trade expert at the European Union Delegation to New Zealand, Diane Lacoste presented via video link and detailed how honey, and in particular mānuka honey, is the big winner in the NZ-EU free trade agreement which began on May 1 with immediate removal of the 17% mānuka tariff. Germany, Poland and – perhaps surprisingly given its comparatively small population – Belgium are the top consumers of honey in the EU, which imports 40% of its honey needs. There is more potential for collaboration between NZ and EU scientists going forward, with Lacoste pointing to the huge €53.5billion (2021-2027) Horizon Fund to which New Zealand researchers now have some access… Could that help honey scientists tackle some of our “compliance” issues to the EU?
· Results of the High Value Nutrition Study were reported, where various forms of research into honey consumer preferences were undertaken. Bowyer summed up their presentation with the conclusion “consumers are in their infancy of understanding honey”. The same might be said of us all, with new research into the oligosaccharide content of honey presented by Ag Research scientist Karl Fraser. The compound is elevated in honey and can significantly reduce gut bacteria. What is the corresponding improvement on gut health? Well, that will need more pricey research Fraser says, and at present that funding is not in place.
· Honey bee foraging activity is reduced the day following feeding of both sugar syrup and protein supplements, but increases significantly in the next two days, according to research presented by Ashley Mortensen of Plant and Food Research. Manipulation of the colony, such as simply opening/working the hive, also reduces foraging on that day.
· Approximately 140,000 placements of beehives into kiwifruit orchards took place last season, with some hives working two placements, said Shane Max of Zespri. 50% of those hives were in the Bay of Plenty. There is 15,600ha of kiwifruit orchard in New Zealand, with hives usually stocked at 8-10/ha. “There is nothing nearly as cost-effective as the bee,” Max said in comparison to artificial pollination practices.
· Hives that are placed on the edge of an orchard do not penetrate to flowers in the middle of that orchard as well as those further in, despite potential for better orientation, Melissa Broussard of Plant and Food Research detailed. In netted blocks, gaps in the nets above hives help improve pollination effectiveness, as does higher nets to allow greater flight space; providing ready access to water; and supplementary feeding, particularly carbohydrates (i.e sugar).
· Seeka reported cropping a lot of undersize green kiwifruit in 2023. After 58 orchards’ beehives were audited, 24 were found to have “substandard” hives.
· “If we leave it for someone else to figure out by themself, it doesn’t always end well,” was the potentially life-saving advice of Rural Support Trust facilitator Malcolm Fluker on the topic of opening up tough conversations with people under stress.
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