When was the last time you saw a honey bee buzzing about your garden? Not for a while I would think. Our bees are in trouble!!!!
Bees are crucial to our primary sector, with a role far beyond honey production. New Zealand’s dependence on horticulture and agriculture means we may be more dependent on pollination from the honey bee than any other nation on earth.
Bee Week, 30 May – 03 June 2011, will highlight the value and opportunities of honey bees and beekeeping in New Zealand – and how bees rely on human intervention to survive.
New Zealand honey bee products are sought after worldwide. Around approximately 9,000 to 12,000 tonnes of honey are produced annually, with almost one third to half exported. Exports of honey alone are valued at around $81million, including $4million of premium organic honey.
Honey is increasingly differentiated according to the flower source, with better blends and more appealing packaging adding value and ensuring more income per kilogram. Manuka honey, with renowned antiseptic properties, is keenly sought for use in products such as wound dressings. Its value has soared in recent years.
Roughly one third of everything we eat is pollinated by bees. Many of our crops would not be viable without bee pollination – with an important role also played by bumble bees. Orchardists pay for hives to be located on their properties – a cost which varies depending on the crop but could range from $75 to $150 per hive.
Tens of thousands of beehives are needed for pollination nationwide ‐ some are also used on more than one crop, and growers are concerned about their ongoing cost and availability. Nearly all beekeepers in the North Island, and over half in the South Island, provide hives for intensive pollination.
The number of beekeepers has declined dramatically over the last 10 years, not helped by the Varroa incursion. Just over 3,000 New Zealanders keep bees, with the 287 biggest beekeepers managing 96% of registered hives – an increase from an industry average of 20 hives per beekeeper in 1950. Those remaining in the industry are business focussed, hard working and good managers.
Quick facts
• $5.1billion of New Zealand’s economy is attributable to pollination by honey bees, domestic honey sales and exports, beeswax and exported honey bees.
• About one third of our food comes as a direct result of honey bee pollination.
• Around $81million worth of honey is exported each year.
• About 3,251 New Zealanders keep bees.
• There are about 388,369 beehives in New Zealand
