Appalled by the perceived “deception” of the American Foulbrood (AFB) Pest Management Plan Agency’s move to establish itself as a Trust just a few months ago, Bay of Plenty Beekeeper Jody Mitchell now calls herself a trustee of that group – New Zealand Bee Health and Biosecurity (NZBB) – along with Mānuka Health national apiculture strategy manager Brian McCall.

Comvita Ltd is almost certain to become wholly owned by Florenz Ltd and delisted from the New Zealand Exchange. Florenz Ltd owns Wedderspoon Organic NZ Ltd, said to be New Zealand’s largest seller of mānuka honey in the US. If the acquisition proceeds, about half of total monofloral mānuka honey exports will fall under the control of a company that operates outside the sphere of influence of the UMF Honey Association.

It’s been a long wait, but New Zealand’s beekeepers will very soon have available to them a fully-registered, long-acting oxalic acid varroa treatment, with UK-headquartered, global apiculture supplier Vita Bee Health recently gaining the necessary approvals.

In our June edition report “Australian Attack ‘Disrespectful and Misleading’, Says Mānuka Charitable Trust”, we laid bare the awkward truth of the intimate relationship between Hive & Wellness Australia Pty Ltd and Comvita Ltd. In this report, Bruce Roscoe sketches the historical context of that closeness and unearths a trove of details that illuminate the fullness of the cooperation.

Comvita Ltd. looks likely to pass into the ownership of health food company Florenz, pending a December shareholder vote. That left one last set of full-year accounts to present as leadership fronted a video call on August 29 to report continued losses and asset writedowns.

In the month following Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ) members July 17 vote to keep the group alive and hastily progress a restructuring process, meetings with beekeepers have been held up and down the country. While two more assemblies remain, both ApiNZ and fellow industry body New Zealand Beekeeping Inc (NZBI) are pressing to hastily turn the lessons from consultation into a blueprint for a stronger industry advocacy group.

Now an established fixture on the events calendar for the apiculture industry, the 6th New Zealand Honey Bee Research Symposium in Wellington on August 28 not only detailed the latest in research in all things honey bees and related fields, but saw discussion on how to fund ongoing work.

The New Zealand Rural Leadership Trust’s Matt Hampton, is encouraging those in apiculture to invest in themselves – and the sector’s future – by undertaking the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme (Kellogg).

What can we learn from a Hertfordshire beekeeper’s 1939 letter to The British Bee Keepers’ Association (BBKA) magazine Bee World? That New Zealand’s current turmoil over beekeeping industry representation is not entirely unique, and that there are examples from not just other locations, but through history, which could help guide our thinking.