Honey producers in Hawke's Bay are looking at a much improved harvest, bouncing back from a write-off season last year.
Arataki Honey export manager Rhys Flack said the company was about half way through its harvest and the early signs looked good.
"Overall we're quite please with the way things are going, compared to last year. By the end of January, last year, we had virtually written-off the season. Climatically it was so dry and really nothing for the bees to collect. This year things have started pretty well.
"Certainly we are looking at an average to better-than-average season.
"The honey season nationally is still a bit patchy, Otago is in the grips of a big dry. Last year the South Island had a reasonable season but I don't know how they will go this year - they might be facing what we did last year."