Organic NZ – September 2019

Advocate • Connect September/October 2019 23

Feature

Advocate • Connect 23

diseases. If you need glasses to see things
close up or in fine detail, be sure to wear
them when working with hives.

Economics
Beekeeping equipment, sugar for feed and
chemicals for varroa control are expensive,
and keeping just a few hives can be a costly
hobby. But one or two dozen hives should
pay for themselves, and with anything over
about 25 hives beekeeping starts to become
more than a hobby.
Now that varroa is established in New
Zealand, full-time beekeepers find they can’t
run as many hives per labour unit as they
once did. Fortunately an increase in honey
prices, especially mānuka, and in pollination
fees, has compensated somewhat for the
extra costs and time involved in managing
varroa. Now in the age of varroa commercial
beekeepers generally run 400–500 hives
per labour unit on average, whereas before
varroa it was 600–800 or even more.

Red tape
There are some restrictions on keeping bees
and selling bee products, as well as some
annual compliance costs, but generally
speaking beekeeping is hassle-free provided
you are not creating a nuisance to others.
The main things you need to know are that:

• you will require the permission of the
  landowner before siting your hives


• the places where bees are kept
  (apiaries) need to be registered with
  the management agency for the
  American foulbrood pest management
  strategy


• there is an annual registration fee of
  $20 per beekeeper and up to $15 per
  apiary


• you must control American foulbrood
  disease and report on this


• some cities have restrictions on
  keeping bees and may charge a fee
  for registering your apiary, and some
  may require you to get the written
  permission of your neighbours to keep
  bees


• there are controls on processing bee
  products if you want to sell them


• there are new controls to prevent
  toxic honey from being produced
  and offered for sale for human
  consumption. These and other
  regulations are covered in Chapter 20.

How to get started
The best way to test your liking for
beekeeping is to gain practical experience
before you get any hives of your own –
either with an individual beekeeper or by
joining a local beekeeping club. To start full
of enthusiasm and then give up through

Andrew Matheson & Murray Reid

Exisle Publishing

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loss of interest can be expensive. If you are

not prepared to look after hives properly,

don’t get any. Varroa will kill any colonies

that are not managed on a regular basis, and

neglected hives are a nuisance to the public

and a potential source of bee diseases.

When to start

If you want an early return through a honey

crop, spring is the best time to start keeping

bees. In most areas of New Zealand the

most suitable months are September to

November, when early nectar and pollen

sources are in flower and colonies have time

to build up in strength before the summer

honey flow. This is, though, a period when

colonies need careful management.

It is easier from a management point

of view to begin beekeeping during the

summer, though unless you start with full-

strength hives you may not produce any

surplus honey until the following season.

Beginning beekeeping in autumn means

that careful management will be needed

and no surplus honey will be produced

until the following season. Colonies

acquired in winter are difficult to check for

brood diseases.

If you do get involved in

beekeeping

Once you become a beekeeper you will be

joining a community of enthusiasts, and

you will be part of one of New Zealand’s

important primary industries. Honey,

beeswax, pollen, bees and minor bee

products are exported to different parts of

the world.

Within New Zealand, honey is enjoyed

as a valuable food in its own right, as well as

being a useful substitute for imported sugar

and sugar-based products. Some honeys

like mānuka have gained a reputation for

their antibiotic properties, while others

have anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory

characteristics. Honey is now widely used

in the food manufacturing and cosmetic

industries. You will also be part of

beekeeping’s most valuable service, which

is to pollinate New Zealand’s horticultural

and agricultural crops and pasture legumes,

a function worth billions of dollars

annually.

Practical Beekeeping

in New Zealand

(5th Ed.)

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