Good day all, I recall hearing somewhere that over winter you can feed raw sugar to the colony, e.g sheet of paper on top of the frames with Raw sugar. I am in Otaki, reasonably mild winter (uh oh there goes the curse) and will be feeding syrup. If I can feed R. sugar do I feed it in conjunction with syrup or as a replacement? I bought a bag a while back and would hate to waste it. Any thoughts ..read more

i reckon you can make a living off 350 hives 2 full depth boxes of honey is 80 kg x 350 28,000 kg or 28 ton x 5 is 140,000 minus cost of runing it fuel sugar syrup im thinking of getting back into it will be fun what are your thoughts people left cause they couldnt get manuka honey made the price go down but i still believe in myself enough to make it work i worked for a beekeeper from 19-24 so i think i have what it takes ..read more

This is from 1964. For almost a decade before, the NBA had been working through the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture to develop a training (though really more academic/educational) qualification path for beekeepers. In the process of 'launching' the qualification, they decided to award it to any beekeeper who was more than 40 years old, with more 20 years of industry exprerience. Not all 'qualified' beekeepers allowed their names to go forward: I note that Billy Bray is not... Read more ..read more

For those who entered their data for this survey, the results are now available at 2023 Colony Loss Survey » Manaaki Whenua Some interesting reading - namely losses appear to have plateaued at this time but varroa continues to be the leading cause of losses. I'm sure if there are questions then we could encourage Pike to re-join and answer questions. This survey also contained... Read more ..read more

NZ has had some form of required apiary registration system since 1928... Back then, the required information related to the number of Italian bees, Black bees and Cross-bred bees that the beekeeper owned. The register was held centrally, in the Wellington office of the Dept of Agriculture. Regulations in 1937 gave specific power to keep the records "bookwise" or in "card form", and were allowed to be rearranged to any chosen order! It wasn't until 1953 that the apiary registers were... Read more ..read more

Instructions for extended-release oxalic acid - Scientific Beekeeping Extended-release oxalic acid for varroa management This method of application of oxalic acid is not yet approved by the EPA, so the instructions below are intended only for researchers having Pesticide Research Authorizations, Experimental Use Permits, or other permissions from their State Lead... scientificbeekeeping.com randy has done an update to his instructions on how to make/use OAE. a couple of key points for a lot of us, Note if you are working in an area with high humidity: place an airtight cover over the t ..read more

On Tuesday, 30 April at 7 pm Melissa Oddie a Canadian bee scientist who has been working with varoa tolerant bees for several years in Norway will give a short talk on the subject at Arataki honey Havelock North. I have met with Melissa several times in Norway and her research is quite fascinating. She will be in New Zealand on holiday but has kindly volunteered to talk to the beekeeping fraternity. All beekeepers welcome ..read more

I have been loath to try new methods of varoa control but conventional treatments are no longer keeping my hives alive so I have been giving fogging a try. I gave the hives four treatments Five days apart in January and three treatments five days apart in March. The first of the March treatments was after recording and only a few days after the new Queens should have been laying. I did a full check on everything today and they looked remarkably healthy and there was only one queenless hive... Read more ..read more

What is now the Pest Management Plan was developed back in the 1990’s by a committee of the National Beekeepers’ Assn. Terry Gavin, Whangarei, was the Chairman and Ian Berry, Havelock North, served before him. Members included Bruce Stevenson, Kerikeri; Graham Wilson, Pukekohe; Bryan Clements, Kihikihi; John Moffat, Nelson; Warren Hantz, Leeston; Richard Bensemann, Ashburton; Jan van Hoof, Geraldine; Peter Sales, Port Chalmers; and Allen McCaw, Milton. Mark Goodwin, Hamilton, was the... Read more ..read more

After WWII (in fact, after WWI as well) the Govt resettled a number of returning soldiers to be "beekeepers". There were a number of training courses to prepare these 20 some odd year old men to be full time beekeepers. The places they were allocated would almost certainly have to be a place that didn't have existing commercial beekeepers already. Which usually meant somewhere that no one else wanted... I got to thinking about that 'cohort' of beekeepers, and especially the ones that I... Read more ..read more