Beekeeping in New Zealand

Pete and Stacey Johnston are the proprietors of Mahurangi Honey located an hour north of Auckland on the North Island of New Zealand. They have been keeping bees for over 30 years but went commercial 7 years ago. They have about 200 colonies and manage the whole process from bee-breeding to packaging and sales themselves. New Zealand beekeeping is especially interesting because so much of it is (inevitably) familiar to us, and yet much of it is quite strange and different. Stacey and Pete will tell us about the various forage crops – obviously Manuka, but also Pohutukawa and Kanuka – equipment and hive systems, pests (have you heard of the Argentine ant?) and diseases. Beekeeping is an important industry in NZ, particularly with the lucrative market in Manuka honey. There are nearly 7000 registered beekeepers with nearly a million colonies in 42,000 apiaries. Varroa arrived, despite all attempts to keep it out, in 2000 and has proved a big problem. Some commercial NZ beekeepers are apparently spending £15,000 a year on Varroa treatment.

This is a talk delivered over ZOOM. To attend, please book a place below (you will need to log in as a member). You will then receive an email with the unique link you will need to join the meeting.

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