Speakers add sting to bee conference

01-06-2009 | Jackie Harrigan

Bees are essential for agriculture.

Bay of Plenty beekeeper Jody Mitchell says farmers are starting to wake up to this; that bees are very important for their farming business.

She says a number are becoming interested in keeping some bees to pollinate their clovers, which in turn fix nitrogen for the pasture.

The willing wee workers can also create a work-free income stream for farmers by being harnessed to make honey from manuka, and from other native trees.

"Most beekeepers are more than willing to pay farmers to place their hives near stands of manuka to collect honey around the flowering period."

She says some beekeepers work on a profit-sharing basis, whilst others pay a rental per hive, an arrangement she and her ex-dairy farmer husband Ralph find works best for them.

One landowner in the eastern Taranaki region earned $6000 from hosting 200 hives for the Mitchells last season.

The Mitchells live on a farm on the Kaimai Range in western Bay of Plenty and travel across the country to find stands of manuka to place their 500 hives.

Their guaranteed income comes from providing pollination services to both green and gold kiwifruit growers in the Bay of Plenty but the manuka, tawari and rewarewa honey make all the hard work worthwhile - as long as it crops.

Their Kaimai Range Honey is only sold locally through the Tauranga Farmers' Market but the bulk of the company's product is exported to Europe.

The Mitchells say they are always looking for more manuka honey sites as it is hard to find good ones.

They want to discourage farmers from spraying manuka on steep hillsides as it is a great resource for honey, as well as having benefits in reducing erosion.

"If the site is too steep to grow much grass, farmers can make income off it from hive rental if they leave the manuka intact."

Jody and Ralph Mitchell are members of the Bay of Plenty branch of the National Beekeepers Association (NBA) and are involved in organising the 2009 NBA conference.

Held in Rotorua from June 7-11, the conference includes for the second year a forum for hobbyists and farmers with small numbers of hives, who are new to the industry.

Beekeepers throughout the country are anxious that the New Zealand industry remains free of many diseases affecting hives in the rest of the world.

A new organic treatment called metarhizium is being trialed to control varroa mite, currently treated with strips outside of the honey production period and no antibiotics are applied to control diseases in NZ, which makes our honey unique in the world, says Ralph.

However, moves by MAF and the previous government to allow imported honey and bee products into NZ has the industry very concerned.

They say opening the borders to imported honey would make new diseases inevitable.

"There are some nasty diseases which we don't have and don't want in this country," said Ralph.

"It won't be a matter of if, but when, we get new diseases."

Due to their concern, and in order to be prepared for the worst, the couple are joining 12 other beekeepers on a fact finding visit to Australia.

They will look at European foulbrood (EFB) and small hive beetle affecting hives there and how they are managed, as well as briefing the Australian industry on NZ's methods of controlling varroa mite.

Speakers at the June conference also include the Minister of Agriculture and Biosecurity David Carter. Minister for Food Safety Kate Wilkinson will also be attending.

Bees make a $3 billion annual contribution to the economy as pollinators of plants and grasses, and exports of honey alone are valued at around $71 million.

The Mitchells say there are other threats to bee health too, from sprays used in orchards.

Neonicotinoids are a new family of orchard sprays believed to be bee friendly. However there are concerns that they may adversely affect bees and the national conference brings together a group of experts to discuss this, including Jerry Hayes, chief of apiaries for the Florida Department of Agriculture, USA.

Hayes will also update beekeepers on the latest research on colony collapse disorder (CCD) which has affected the industry in America.

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