ApiNZ Members to Vote on Group’s Fate Again

On June 5 Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ) members will be asked to make a crucial decision regarding the industry organisation’s future for the third time in less than 15 months. The choice? Dissolve the group with roots stretching back more than a century, or adopt an entirely new constitution which hands control to commercial-beekeepers, reducing the influence of hobby beekeepers and honey marketers?

ApiNZ’s AGM will be held online, with four resolutions to consider regarding transition to a new constitution, fees structure and governance model which would take the interim name ‘Honey and Bees NZ’. Or, if members reject that proposal at the first resolution, then the members will be asked to approve a ‘wind up of its operations’.

The board and staff of ApiNZ at the July 2025 AGM, Sudima Hotel Christchurch. From left, board members Stu Ferguson, Sean Goodwin, Lisa Nicholson, Tony Wright and Nathan Guy, with staff Karin Kos and Phil Edmonds at right.

ApiNZ chief executive Karin Kos has served the group in the role for all 11 years it has operated, since emerging as the organisation which succeeded the National Beekeepers’ Association, formed in 1914 to advance beekeepers’ interests. Along with Ian Fletcher, an advisor to fellow beekeeping interest group New Zealand Beekeeping Inc (NZBI), Kos has worked to shape a constitution for a united beekeeping group. Their work comes off the back of numerous public meetings with beekeepers in varying regions in the second half of 2025, and bouncing ideas off a smaller ‘Industry Advisory Group’ in 2026.

The goal is ‘unity’, the key word coming out of ApiNZ’s last AGM and workshop to discuss a path forward for beekeeper representation, in July 2025 in Christchurch and streamed online. That meeting saw members vote to accept a short-term future funded largely by the Honey Industry Trust to buy time for reformation. Prior to that, in March 2025 in the face of financial difficulties, ApiNZ’s board first proposed dissolution at an SGM, with members postponing that decision to the Christchurch AGM, and now the 2026 event.

NZBI’s Unsure Path to Amalgamation

Even if the new constitution is adopted, the path to NZBI carrying out their end of the amalgamation process is uncertain. NZBI president Jane Lorimer says they will have to wait and see what emerges from the June 5 AGM before committing to a course of action. That will likely involve meeting of their leadership team and then membership to confirm their contentment with a new group she says, despite Fletcher’s heavy involvement in writing the new constitution.

“We have an agreement to be part of the board to work towards the uniting of the industry, but how long that will take, I don’t know … we need to talk to our members and let them decide what we will do,” Lorimer says.  

Taxation without Representation

Unity among commercial beekeepers could be moved closer with the coming together of the two industry groups under Honey and Bees NZ, but it looks likely to freeze out non-commercial hive owners and also the honey marketers which have helped shape ApiNZ in membership and governance since 2016. There is provision for their inclusion under the new constitution, but it would be in the form of an ‘associate’ membership class which comes without ability to vote or hold board positions.

One of the resolutions to be tabled at the AGM – should the transition to a new constitution be passed in the first vote – will be a new annual fees structure. While they would be reduced ‘pro-rata’ for a shorter first year of operation, the proposal is for commercial beekeepers to pay $600 to become a member, plus an additional $1 per hive for any hives over 500 owned. Among the affiliate classes are 'non-commercial beekeeper' whose fees would be $80 per-annum, clubs $200, ‘companies involved in extraction, packing, exporting honey without beekeeping operations’ $1000, and ‘industry suppliers, research organisation etc.’ $500.

It is stipulated that the proposed new board comprise a minimum of five and maximum of seven elected directors, all of whom must have ‘substantial experience in commercial beekeeping’ and that these elected directors can co-opt up to two non-voting directors ‘with relevant experience’.

The July 2025 discussion day in Christchurch hosted by ApiNZ which kickstarted a period of consultation with beekeepers, resulting in the potential new constitution to be presented to members for adoption at the 2026 AGM, June 5.

The constitution for Honey and Bees NZ states the purpose of the Society to be … ‘to protect and advance the interests of beekeeping in New Zealand, with a particular focus on the resilience, sustainability and profitability of commercial beekeeping operations, while also providing for constructive engagement with non-commercial beekeepers, industry suppliers, and with pollination export and other partners’. Beyond that the constitution provides a broad base of functions and powers to form an advocacy group for beekeepers, without defining specifics of a work programme. A background note to the AGM supplied by ApiNZ lists key themes from consultation with beekeepers being the need for a focus on ‘biosecurity, bee health, financial sustainability and bringing in a new generation of leaders to steer the future’.

The work plan will be shaped by the level of membership support received, with the constitution allowing for employment of staff or contractors.

Membership & Voting

In recent years ApiNZ’s membership and thus funding level has dropped, forcing the changes in direction ahead of members. At the 2025 AGM it was decided – due to the organisation’s state of limbo – that existing memberships would be rolled over for another year, without obligation to meet subscription fees. The result is approximately 230 members, a mix of commercial, non-commercial and market sector, will hold the fate of the group in their hands on June 5.

As per ApiNZ’s existing constitution, voting is weighted to favour commercial beekeepers (defined as members owning >25 beehives) to a weight of 56%, market sector holds 33% and non-commercial beekeepers 11%. Support from more than 50% of the weighted vote will be required to pass any of the resolutions.

The Two Paths

If reformation is the path taken, an interim board will take control of the process with two commercial beekeeper representatives nominated by each of ApiNZ and NZBI, and then each group to also nominate an advisor to assist formation of Honey and Bees NZ. When an initial AGM of the new group to takes place, a board of directors would be elected.

If the other, shorter, road – that of dissolution of ApiNZ – is preferred by their members, then it would bring to a close a continual form of national-level beekeeper representation which has existed in New Zealand since the National Beekeepers’ Association formed in 1914. ApiNZ was the result of the amalgamation of the then 102-year-old group and Federated Farmers Bee Industry Group in 2016. A subsequent meeting would need to be held to confirm the landing place for ApiNZ assets, such as any remaining money at bank, the New Zealand Beekeeper Journal, library, and considerable information resource held.