Mānuka Orchard Open Day Highlights Industry Progression

A mood of optimism purveyed at Mānuka Orchard’s Open Day on July 25, as more than 150 beekeepers, suppliers, scientists and assorted industry stakeholders made their way to Paengaroa in the Bay of Plenty to talk honey, pollination and bee health.

“We are here today to show that as an industry we are progressing, moving forward,” declared Mānuka Orchard owner Logan Bowyer as he opened the day’s events in the local hall, down the road from their honey storage, processing and sales facility.

The Paengaroa Hall begins to fill up for Mānuka Orchard’s Open Day on July 25, which over 150 people attended.

The event featured a trade display in the main hall and various invited speakers and presentations in the conference area, including panel discussions on pollination, hive health and honey testing, beekeeping business models, plus honey production and post-harvest operations. There was plenty of time for beekeepers to socialise beyond the structured talks too.

Here’s just a few of the talking points…

• Unsurprisingly, given the event’s location in the heart of kiwifruit country, pollination of the vines was a major discussion point. Shane Max, head of global extension at Zespri, made clear the need for a strengthened relationship between the two industries. “We have a massive expansion in gold variety coming,” he said, with somewhere between 350-500ha of new vines to go in next year and more beyond. Each hectare will require around 10 beehives in spring, meaning a demand of up to 5000 extra hives each year.

• “For us to be successful we don’t just need more hives, we need more hives set up for kiwifruit pollination,” Max says. To help educate beekeepers on orchard requirements, Zespri will be holding 10 workshops with beekeepers in August (nine in the North Island, one in Nelson) to aid collaboration and best practice management. “We need to take you guys on our journey,” he added.

Panel discussions saw experts and audience bounce ideas back and forward at the Mānuka Orchard Open Day in Paengaroa.

• Bowyer reported on the 2024/25 honey season at Mānuka Orchard, saying “predominantly a lot of bush honey came in, and not a lot of mānuka”. Currently 2500 drums of honey are stored on site, whereas it was around 4000 for much of the last four years. “One 4°c room, which holds 400 drums, has been turned off and gone back to 20°c,” he stated, highlighting the removal of older honey from the facility. “We are running out of honey fast”.

• Pike Stahlmann-Brown of Landcare Research presented some of the 2024 Colony Loss Survey results, focusing much of his talk on information gained on varroa management. His data suggests two thirds of commercial beekeepers are now treating at least twice in autumn, post honey harvest, for varroa. “If you treat just once, varroa mites have an opportunity to come back,” Stahlmann-Brown said.

• Colony Loss rates over time track in line with the amount of registered beehives in the country Stahlmann-Brown identified. The current reduction in hive numbers has seen a reduction in the percentage of hive deaths. “I think there is something there worth thinking about, around overcrowding,” he pointed out.

• The majority of new kiwifruit plantings taking place are going in under netted orchards Max explained, but many are intentionally leaving a strip of netting in the roof open so that beehives can be placed under it, aiding bee survival, hive strength and pollination results.

With plenty of food and drink on hand, and time set aside for socialising, beekeepers at Mānuka Orchard’s Open Day took advantage at a quiet time of year in the hives.

• While talk of industry governance models was largely off the agenda, Northland beekeeper Liam Gavin advised that Apiculture New Zealand CEO Karin Kos had reached out to him to organise a meeting in the top of country as part of their consultation on industry representation. “They are trying to engage with us, now we need to come out and do our bit and get involved,” Gavin stressed.