ApiNZ-NZBI Talks Continue, Attempt to Overcome Philosophical Differences

Attempts between current groups Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ) and New Zealand Beekeeping Inc (NZBI) to form a draft structure of a new national level industry body for beekeepers continued through October, but as the calendar turned to November each has identified sticking points which are slowing progress.

ApiNZ CEO Karin Kos – “It is the role of groups outside of a membership organisation and how they work together … That is the big remaining point for us”.

“Neither participant is going to flounce out of this, says NZBI advisor Ian Fletcher.

“This has to be made to work. Failure is not an option.”

The bullish attitude comes as the two beekeeping groups fall behind on a proposed timeline released together last month which hoped to have a potential structure outlined in October, with input then to be sought by an industry “advisory group”, before heading to the wider industry for consultation in the remaining months of 2025.

The efforts follow several rounds of beekeeper consultation by both groups over several years with the intention of determining how New Zealand’s apiarists wish to be represented. Despite those meetings, it is years-old philosophical differences between the two industry bodies that are once again a stumbling block – primarily the role and influence of corporate beekeeping enterprises.

“We have had a lot of engagement and made a lot of progress, but there are still a couple of issues to work through before we go out to a wider industry group,” ApiNZ CEO Karin Kos says.

Kos and Fletcher have been in regular communication as they flesh out the draft industry body structure, backed by their respective boards/executive groups.

NZBI advisor Ian Fletcher – “There is no question the big corporates keep bees and so are beekeepers … Do they find their home as full members where they would end up paying quite a bit of money and have a big seat at the table, or do you have a structure where they end up as a kind of associate members?”.

“There is a lot of common ground and we have made really good progress. It has been worthwhile having ongoing discussions to get this document in a good place … I think we are 90 percent there, but you know what it is like, it’s always hard to get that last 10 percent,” Kos says.

The ApiNZ CEO identifies “how affiliated groups work within the overall membership” as the key area of contention for their group.

“It is the role of groups outside of a membership organisation and how they work together. For us it is a matter of making sure there is a place, but that the governance still sits with the membership. That is the big remaining point for us,” Kos says.

NZBI are coming to the discussion from the point of view that the existing work of groups shouldn’t be overlooked and they should be able to maintain their “identity”.

“We can’t compel anyone to join a new national-level beekeeping organisation and so you have to make it as easy as possible for people to want to join," Fletcher says.

"I have been working on the basis that those already in a group should be able to find a way into a new structure through affiliation. You would want to guard against it being a free ride so their terms of membership didn’t mean they were getting benefit that they hadn’t contributed to financially. That is reasonable."

The other sticking point is the role of large corporate businesses in which beekeeping is just part of a vertically integrated operation, such as Comvita and Mānuka Health. Those two, and others, have been members of ApiNZ, whereas NZBI takes a more beekeeper-centric approach.

“There is no question the big corporates keep bees and so are beekeepers,” Fletcher explains the discussions.

“They may not see their businesses principally as beekeeping though. So, do they find their home as full members where they would end up paying quite a bit of money and have a big seat at the table, or do you have a structure where they end up as a kind of associate member and the people whose primary business is the keeping of bees are in the driving seat?

“That is a legitimate area of discussion and it is possible to have two valid points of view.”

Both groups’ leaders hope to have moved past the current impasse by the first or second week of November, and move to that next step of testing the draft structure on a small group of beekeepers.

“Let’s get something we are both comfortable with. If it takes a bit longer than planned, that is not entirely unexpected. It has been good discussion,” Kos says.

Despite the stumbling blocks, built on long-help philosophical differences, Fletcher says there is commitment to ensuring the current process gains beekeepers a structure they can seriously contemplate.

“We have to work it through to narrow the choices as much as we can, then engage the beekeeping community,” he says, adding “I think we can do some more narrowing”.