Bridging (and Harnessing) the Generation Gap

  APIARIST’S OPINION: MURRAY BUSH 

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.

By Murray Bush

Recently retired Marlborough beekeeper Murray Bush describes himself as among “The Great Unwashed” by having very little affiliation to national-level beekeeper groups over the past decade, but he is keen to see beekeepers not waste the “generational watershed moment” offered at present.  

The recent articles in this publication, the industry ‘roundtable’ discussion group and regional beekeeper field days, have all been incredibly refreshing with their discussions on where our industry should be heading. We have only just scratched the surface, but long overdue discussions need to start somewhere, and everyone needs to be encouraged and supported, to push ideas forward to greater heights. 

The beekeeping industry must not waste a generational watershed moment, regardless of what may have happened on all sides over the last 25 years.  

After a lifetime of beekeeper/honey industry involvement, and over 100 years of family involvement, I am going to attempt to provide some balance to the current industry discussion on a future direction. 

Two Sides to See

There is absolutely no question, new blood and new ideas are essential to develop a positive new future for the New Zealand honey industry. 

On the flip side, absolutely no one should question the incredible volume of work carried out by the management teams of both Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ) and New Zealand Beekeeping Inc (NZBI). Whether you agree or not with their respective ideologies, there is no doubt their workload has made beekeeping possible in 2025. 

If the status quo is not working, where do we go? I am not about to stop the brainstorming session, but I am going to play ‘devil’s advocate’ to some points raised so far. 

 There are two repeated statements that need further evaluation.

1.      That any new entity must start from scratch. 

2.      “Oldies” need to move aside now for others to come forward. 

I am not trying to retain the status quo, or protect egos, but I believe implementing these two points without serious planning has a high risk of repeating the same issues we are currently trying to solve. 

The 2002 and 2016 splits with BIG/Federated Farmers and ApiNZ were driven by ideologies and a desire for a fresh clean start. Neither enterprise had any plan or desire to negotiate industry unity. Just a clean start as fast as possible. Beekeepers became alienated on all sides, and directly lead to the ‘patch’ mentality we experience today. 

The other point in this example is that both splits were driven and managed by diverse groups of individuals across all ages and industry experience. 

Attitude Over Age

If the true goal is some form of industry unity, then ATTTUDE and a willingness to work as a team are far more important than specific ages or a desire for a straight, ‘clean’ sheet. 

Removing the “oldies” or incumbent management simply is not practical with current structures, as the beekeeping industry must have a continuation of governance with new issues being covered weekly by existing management teams.  

It is questionable, at best, but I think foolhardy to remove the incredible skill and knowledge from our older beekeepers. The simple reality is, no one survives in this industry for 20/30/40 years without constantly changing and adapting to the never-ending issues both domestic and international we all contend with daily. 

Right now we need to create an inclusive structure of old and new management, so those individuals who want to leave management roles can do so with dignity when required. This respect given to incumbents by using their knowledge and experience, can avoid the messy and divisive splits of the past. This is attainable if there is a common goal, and a shelving of egos on all sides will be a prerequisite. 

The Alarm Clock Sounds

The honey industry is waking up. In 2025 long overdue dialog is being undertaken.

An opportunity was lost in 2019 when beekeepers voted ‘no’ to a honey levy. Clearly beekeepers across all sectors and organisations felt they were being sidelined, and this should have been the catalyst for ApiNZ and NZBI to join forces and reset their industry structure. 

A hard truth for an industry discussing its future is, the disconnect has never been greater. More beekeepers than ever are deliberately choosing not to belong to any industry group.  

It is damaging enough that local beekeepers have lost the democratic voice they once enjoyed, and corresponding industry ownership. Worse though, grassroots beekeepers have lost the skills and pathway to strive and be involved with running governance issues at a national-organisation level. 

Even our most successful group, the American Foulbrood Pest Management Plan board has become very “in house”, without beekeeper lead appointments in recent years. 

The fantastic news of increased dialog in 2025 means some regions have already started to build a greater grassroots engagement, which is very encouraging. The recent industry roundtable talks are attempting to break barriers within the different industry groups, which is long overdue, and from all accounts building bridges with formal and informal beekeeping groups. This will continue to grow in momentum. 

Big ideas, and fixed organizational structures will form over time, but right now we need to create a simple environment for ideas and actual volunteer work to be harnessed and dispersed. Every beekeeper should be made welcome at this table, but we must all remain engaged, even if our pet idea is not accepted by the greater industry.  

It is a cliché, but this really is a case of the industry being bigger than an individual. 

Where to From Here?

This is not an easy exercise, and it will require levels of patience and cooperation not seen in this industry for a very long time. 

Since we are all brainstorming, here is my two cents worth, (in no particular order). 

1.      Build local branches back up and give beekeepers a democratic voice and vote. Yes, NZBI currently do this, but the bulk of non-members need a reason to reengage. 

2.      In the immediate future there will likely be multiple industry or regional groups. This is fine if everyone is working for a common goal. A top committee/executive will be formed from voted representatives from each group, and this will be the industry voice taken to Wellington. In one form or another, this structure is now being mentioned by a number of industry groups. 

3.      I think beekeepers and honey packers should have separate day-to-day management, but have a seat at an executive table. The simple reality is that keeping bees and packing honey can have conflicting business strategies on any given day, but both converge at the border with quality and quantity issues.

In short, there is a lot to like from what Darren Bainbridge has recently and astutely proposed in both The Future of Beekeeping Representation: Let’s Talk About It and then Let’s Move the Conversation Forward.

Final Thought – Harness the Differences

This new planning and discussion, while absolutely essential, will not be worth two cents if the majority of beekeepers do not become financial members of a group again. 

 If beekeepers want the brighter and more prosperous future they seek, and are discussing in online chat forums and – probably  – over a coffee in an apiary, they need to commit sooner rather than later to helping this future develop. This help will need to be both financial and physical, at all levels, but the problem can be shared. 

There is a mountain of experience out there. I urge the new and younger crew, with your ideas and the energy we had in the past to “harness the generation gap” and build a cooperative future. 

To us “oldies”, we need to provide positive help and encouragement when required.  

There will be times we do not understand each other’s’ world, or the technology available, but if the common goal is a strong and inclusive beekeeping industry, we can turn these differences into a stronger whole.

Good luck. 

Murray Bush is a third-generation Marlborough beekeeper who retired and sold the family beekeeping business, J Bush & Sons, in 2024 after 33 years full-time in the hives.