increase font size
New Zealand has a flourishing population of honey bees cared for 8,190 registered beekeepers.
The message for the 2025 World Bee Day is a call to action for sustainable practices that support bees, improve food security, and protect biosecurity in the face of mounting climate pressures.
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.
The agency charged with controlling the serious bee disease American Foul Brood (AFB) has defended itself against criticism from a North Canterbury beekeeper who was recently ordered to destroy equipment following a find of AFB spores in his storage shed.
Apiculture NZ is seeking assurances from authorities that the country’s beekeepers won’t be faced with the same problems that their Auckland colleagues did when that region went into lockdown.
New Zealand's apiculture industry is still growing, according to a new report.
Myrtle rust, the Government’s mānuka honey science definition, and international trends in honeybee research, are just some of the hot topics at this year’s Apiculture New Zealand National Conference, held in Rotorua July 9-11.
Damaged beehives, bee losses, and difficulty in accessing isolated hives are just some of the challenges Upper South Island beekeepers have faced since the earthquake hit last week.
OPINION: Ministry for Primary Industries' situation outlook for primary industries report (SOPI) makes impressive reading.
Sheep and beef farmers Matt and Kristin Churchward say using artificial intelligence (AI) to spread fertiliser on their sprawling 630ha farm is a game changer for their business.
Commercial fruit and vegetable growers are being encouraged to cast their votes in the Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) board directors' election.
A unique discovery by a Palmerston North science company, Biolumic, looks set to revolutionise the value and potential of ryegrass and the secret is the application of ultraviolet (UV) light.
A New Zealand company is redefining the global collagen game by turning New Zealand sheepskin into a world-class health product.
With further extreme weather on the way, ANZ Bank is encouraging farmers and business owners impacted by the recent extreme weather and flooding to seek support if they need it.
OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the…
OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left…
