Welcome to issue 56 of the eMagazine and month 34 of online content at
www.apiaristsadvocate.com. This month’s stories are particularly pertinent for the future of New Zealand beekeeping, with the long-debated issue of a honey levy again taking centre stage following the release of the New Zealand Honey Strategy 2024-30 by Apiculture New Zealand.
It has already created some debate, as you will see in some of our coverage this month, and there is sure to be plenty more – which the authors are encouraging as they head towards a consultation process with the apiculture industry. We look forward to being a platform where some of that can play out.
This month’s content is very much based around the strategy itself and some of the top office holders in apiculture’s stakeholder groups. That’s by design, its only fair they get to present the strategy and be the first to set their position regarding the topics introduced.
Going forward, we welcome feedback on the strategy, a levy and any of the other issues the strategy has brought forward – just like we always have on all our stories. Right from first publishing in August 2019 (soon after the last honey levy was voted down) Apiarist’s Advocate has been fiercely independent of all industry groups. That puts us in a position to offer constructive news, views and promotions, for beekeepers, by beekeepers just as our masthead has promised for the past 56 months.
All that to say, we encourage your educated and thought-through opinions on any and all of the stories we publish. They can be in “letters to the editor” (they tend to be emails these days!) intended for publishing, topics or angles you think we should investigate, have missed, or got right or wrong. Feedback of any kind is always welcome here at Apiarist’s Advocate and never more so than on issues that effect every beekeeper in New Zealand, such as honey levies and the formation of industry bodies to represent us.
And to leave on something a little more light-hearted – get in touch and send us your best caption for the caption comp!
Patrick Dawkins, editor.
Email: editor@apiadvocate.co.nz
