Global retailers taste NZ mānuka honey offerings
Thousands of honey retailers and professionals worldwide are getting a taste of the remarkable properties of New Zealand mānuka honey.
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."
Two butcheries have claimed victory at the 100% New Zealand Bacon & Ham Awards for 2025.
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.
The Climate Change Commission’s 2025 emissions reduction monitoring report reveals steady progress on the reduction of New Zealand’s climate pollution.
Another milestone has been reached in the fight against Mycoplasma bovis with the compensation assistance service being wound up after helping more than 1300 farmers.
The Government’s directive for state farmer Landcorp Farming (trading as Pamu) to lifts its performance is yielding results.
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.
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