Monday, 29 February 2016 17:04

Bee hives double in last 10 years

Written by 
An industry survey shows that register beehives in New Zealand have doubled in the last 10 years. An industry survey shows that register beehives in New Zealand have doubled in the last 10 years.

An industry survey shows that register beehives in New Zealand have doubled in the last 10 years, Agcarm president Mark Christie says.

"The number of bee hives are the highest we've ever seen - at close to 600,000 registered hives (582,302) in 2015 compared to less than 300,000 (294,886) in 2005," Christie told the Agcarm Summer Conference in Auckland this week.

The vexing issue is the misinformation continually being placed in the media about bee health in NZ, he said.

"So Agcarm financially supported a bee survey to seek hard data detailing the issues facing the health of our bees," he says.

"This survey enables industry to make better choices to protect bee health. It will also allow us to track changes on bee colony loss and survival into the future."

A total of 366 New Zealand commercial and hobbyist beekeepers took part in the survey late last year representing 40% of the hive numbers in NZ.

The results show that hive losses during last winter were just over 10%. The highest losses were recorded in the North Island and especially amongst hobby apiarists.

Losses were most frequently attributed to queen problems (the largest commercial operators attributed at least 35% of their hive losses to queen problems), followed by colony deaths (34.4%), then wasps (14.4%). Starvation was the most common cause for colony loss (45%) with this being a particularly noticeable trend amongst those with small hive numbers.

"The evidence indicates a healthy and growing bee population which is excellent – but we cannot rest on our laurels. We need to maintain our strong focus on keeping NZ bees healthy and productive into the future."

More like this

Winners and losers

The main beneficiaries of the EU FTA will be kiwifruit, onions, honey, wine and seafood.

Featured

$52,500 fine for effluent mismanagement

A Taupiri farming company has been convicted and fined $52,500 in the Hamilton District Court for the unlawful discharge of dairy effluent into the environment.

Ospri brings Bovine TB testing in-house

The move to bring bovine TB testing in-house at Ospri officially started this month, as a team of 37 skilled and experienced technicians begin work with the disease eradication agency.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Arable advocacy?

OPINION: Spare a thought for the arable farmer, squeezed on one side by soft global prices and on the other…

Gaslight much?

OPINION: Labour leader Chris 'Chippy' Hipkins is carrying on the world-class gaslighting of the nation that he and his cohorts…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter