Bees are crucial to the horticultural industry.Bees are crucial to our primary sector, with a role far beyond honey production. New Zealand's dependence on horticulture and agriculture means we may be more dependent on pollination from the honey bee than any other nation on earth.
Bee Week this week highlights the value and opportunities of honey bees and beekeeping in New Zealand - and how bees rely on human intervention to survive.
Bee Week is supported by the National Beekeepers' Association of New Zealand and Federated Farmers Bees.
New Zealand honey bee products are sought after worldwide. About 9000 to 12,000 tonnes of honey are produced annually, with almost one third to half exported. Exports of honey alone are valued at about $71 million, including $4 million of premium organic honey.
Honey is increasingly differentiated according to the flower source, with better blends and more appealing packaging adding value and ensuring more income per kilogram. Manuka honey, with renowned antiseptic properties, is keenly sought for use in products such as wound dressings. Its value has soared in recent years.
Roughly one-third of everything we eat is pollinated by bees. Many of our crops would not be viable without bee pollination - with an important role also played by bumble bees. Orchardists pay for hives to be located on their properties - a cost which varies depending on the crop but could range from $75 to $150 per hive.
Tens of thousands of beehives are needed for pollination nationwide - some are also used on more than one crop and growers are concerned about their ongoing cost and availability. Nearly all beekeepers in the North Island, and over half in the South Island, provide hives for intensive pollination.
The number of beekeepers has declined dramatically over the last 10 years, not helped by the varroa incursion. About 3000 New Zealanders keep bees, with the 287 biggest beekeepers managing 96 per cent of registered hives - an increase from an industry average of 20 hives per beekeeper in 1950.
Anecdotal evidence shows beekeeping in many urban areas in New Zealand is increasing in popularity.
Many of the National Beekeepers' Association of New Zealand's branches have reported increased interest in beekeeping from city-dwellers. The NBA says keeping a hive in your backyard is a great way to pollinate your own fruit and vegetables and also provides informative and entertaining education for kids.
Growers and farmers well know the bee's importance to high-performing crops and pasture. Even crops that are intended to be self-pollinating perform better if pollinated by bees.
Good agricultural and horticultural practice therefore relies on the correct use of agrichemicals, especially insecticides. It is imperative that growers keep the two apart.
The use of agrichemicals toxic to bees is controlled by the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 and the Agricultural Chemicals and Veterinary Medicines Act 1997. These laws make it an offence to use agrichemicals contrary to any bee toxicity warning on the label.
Varroa is a mite which feeds off live bee larvae and adults. Since its discovery in New Zealand in 2000, varroa has posed a major challenge, spreading to most parts of the country. Left untreated, infected hives will eventually die.
The introduction of the varroa mite is an example of an incidental pest organism that Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) has estimated will cost the New Zealand economy between $400 and $900 million over 35 years.
The varroa incursion highlights New Zealand's vulnerability to biosecurity threats. The whole industry was shocked and government immediately restricted beehive movements. With eradication proving too difficult - particularly in wild bee colonies - containment became the goal.
Despite tight bans on movement, varroa spread to the South Island in June 2006. During 2008 all containment activities lapsed and nothing prevented varroa spreading throughout New Zealand. In May 2010 varroa was confirmed in the Central Otago district. It is now assumed there are only small areas left in New Zealand that are varroa-free.
Most beekeepers treat their hives with chemicals, at a cost of about $20 each, plus labour and transportation.
However, as of late 2009 some beekeepers in the Auckland area began reporting signs of varroa becoming resistant to synthetic pyrethroid treatments. This resistance has not been confirmed but has the potential to cause more problems for beekeepers than when varroa first arrived in the country.
Varroa has forced permanent changes to New Zealand beekeeping.
Beekeepers now subscribe to the Honey Bee Exotic Disease Surveillance programme, under which they are constantly on the lookout for major biosecurity risks including European Foulbrood disease, Nosema ceranae, new viruses, mites and Africanised Honey Bee.
The risk of diseases, such as European Foulbrood and Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus, arriving in New Zealand is why the beekeeping industry is strongly opposed to the move to allow honey imports into the country from Australia.
MAF is doing further work on the honey Import Health Standard (IHS) to gain information about the presence or absence in New Zealand of three organisms - P.alvei, Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and Nosema ceranae.
As of the end of June 2010, MAF confirmed the presence of P.alvei in New Zealand.
New Zealand's agriculture and horticulture industries may face a devastating biosecurity risk if a decision is made to allow the import of Australian honey products.
For more information visit http://www.fedfarm.org.nz/treesforbees.
Farmers have role in protecting bees
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