With two vacancies emerging on their board, the recently formed New Zealand Bee Health and Biosecurity Trust (NZBB) have put the call out to commercial beekeepers – ‘we want you’. In recent years applicants have been thin on the ground, but the current chair is hoping recent interest in their move to a new independent model of governance will entice more to step forward.

On June 27 the Minister for Biosecurity, Andrew Hoggard, dropped a bombshell announcement – the sole compulsory levy funded aspect of the beekeeping industry, the American Foulbrood Pest Management Plan (AFB PMP) would be under new governance, in the form of a Charitable Trust led by existing board members. The news has been met with anger from some beekeepers decrying an “abhorrent lack of transparency” and “despicable conduct”. Despite this, tentative steps towards an impro