Naki unveils the world’s most expensive manuka honey
Naki Honey, a New Zealand manuka apiary company, has crafted what is believed to be the world's most expensive honey.
New Zealand has a flourishing population of honey bees cared for 8,190 registered beekeepers who manage 520,000 hives across the country.
At this time of year, with the hard work of producing honey done, honey bees are focused on storing up food to keep their hives fed and healthy through the winter.
While some countries have struggled with dramatic colony losses during winter, colony loss rates in New Zealand over the cold winter months have been declining.
Results from the New Zealand Colony Loss Survey 2024 showed loss rates to varroa mites, the number one threat to bees during winter for 2021-23, fell to 4.6% during winter 2024 compared to 6.4% in winter 2023.
This continues a general downward trajectory since the 2021-2022 surveys.
“The story of the 2024 NZ Colony Loss Survey is about varroa. And it’s a good story because losses to varroa showed a national decline for the first time since we started systematically measuring them,” says survey director Pike Stahlmann-Brown.
Stahlmann-Brown reports that beekeepers are doing more monitoring for varroa, and this is useful in determining when and how to treat the pest.
Good things to plant for bees this month include herbs such as lavender, salvia, rosemary and oregano, and shrubs such as michelia yunnanensis and the native koromiko. Those with larger properties might like to consider yellow gum trees, lacebark or puriri.
