Despite 107 years of family-involvement in the beekeeping industry, up until business sale and retirement in 2024, Murray Bush has been removed from industry governance roles and even industry-body membership in recent years. Therefore, standing on the middle-ground of “The Great Unwashed”, the Marlborough apiarist offers his opinion on the considerations and compromises needed to move forth greater industry representation.

A New Zealand university has played a critical role in a cutting-edge new varroa treatment which recently took one giant step closer to being fully approved for beekeeper use in the USA.

These words don’t come easy… after three weeks of attending Australian State beekeeping conferences, I am in admiration of the maturity and leadership demonstrated by a group of influential commercial Australian beekeepers on the management of varroa.

New Zealand beekeepers are fond of stating that there is more to their honeys than “just mānuka”, and now a new place on the world stage exists to prove it.

With beekeepers up and down the country feeling the pinch of rising costs and honey prices well below recent highs, veteran beekeeper John Berry has some practical advice beekeeping when the chips are down.

Seeking an excuse to get out of the house, retired beekeeper Dave Black ventured to New Zealand Beekeeping Inc’s (NZBI) Paengaroa event on June 6, with the occasion stirring him to make some astute observations on beekeeper representation both locally and nationally.

As winter rolls on, so do the school holidays and second-generation beekeeper Aimz reflects on her own childhood being “dragged around” bee sites as she now willingly undertakes the winter rounds in the family business.

June 2025 marks three years since the beekeeping nightmare that is Varroa destructor was first detected in Australia, at a New South Wales (NSW) port. Unsurprisingly then, management of the mite is a hot topic say three Kiwis who flew across the Tasman recently to partake in Australian beekeeping conferences.

The owner of Capilano, Australia's biggest-selling manuka honey brand, has launched a blistering attack on New Zealand manuka honey, throwing facts and decorum to the wind and sinking trans-Tasman honey ties to a new low.

With a blatant assault on New Zealand’s manuka honey industry being delivered by a leading Australian honey seller recently – as detailed in Capilano Trash-talks New Zealand Mānuka – we seek out an explanation from Capilano and get the reaction from a miffed honey industry on New Zealand’s side of the Tasman who are calling it “absolute nonsense”, “cultural appropriation” and “PR nonsense … with so little of substance”. However, an awkward truth overshadows this war of words.

‘Beekeepers need a standalone industry-good group’. That was the conclusion of the latest of three ‘roundtable’ meetings hosted by New Zealand Beekeeping Inc (NZBI), on March 26 via Zoom. Even a previously key proponent and driver of the combined packer-beekeeper model of governance backed beekeeper-only representation as the best solution, at least for now. How would a beekeeping group be formed? Who would lead it? And – surprisingly important the meeting deemed – what might

While wider beekeeping industry representation and what to do about it – as detailed in Industry Roundtable 3 – ApiNZ Leader Backs Beekeeper-Only Approach  – concluded the most recent roundtable meeting of New Zealand Beekeeping Inc (NZBI) leadership and assorted industry stakeholders, the pressing issue of improving a woefully inadequate Biosecurity programme for apiculture was pushed to the forefront of talks.