Mānuka Orchard and NZ Beeswax Call Beekeepers to Open Days

While Christchurch will play host to beekeepers over two days, centred around the Apiculture New Zealand AGM on July 17, a week prior and a week later two North Island open days are set to provide highly informative and social, as well as free, get togethers for all beekeepers.

First New Zealand Beeswax’s ‘Free Open Day’ will call beekeepers to their Hamilton branch on Friday July 11, then a fortnight later Paengaroa honey extraction, storage, and trading facility Mānuka Orchard will host their own event on July 25.

Manuka Orchard owner Logan Bowyer address attendees at their 2023 Open Day. In 2025, on July 25 in Paengaroa, the event is expected to be bigger than ever.

NZ Beeswax hosted a similar event at the same venue last winter, and the team at Mānuka Orchard are well rehearsed in hosting Open Days at the community hall, but their 2025 edition is freely open to wider attendance and expected to be bigger than ever.

Manuka Orchard Free Open Day, Paengaroa, July 25

“We have over 100 RSVPs thus far and, with still a few weeks to go, we are expecting approximately twice that many to attend. It’s free to attend, so we would like to think beekeepers will come from far and wide,” owner Logan Bowyer says.

Bowyer, wife Tania Bowyer, and the team of staff at Mānuka Orchard have hosted clients and suppliers of the facility at well-received open days since 2020, with usually just short of 100 in attendance.

“The more the better, and we have a programme that will be of value to beekeepers as they look to adapt their businesses to suit conditions, but which also provides plenty of time and a couple of great venues for socialising and more direct conversations,” Bowyer explains.

Two plenary sessions of around two hours each will take place in the hall, with a range of experts addressing topics of honey production and sales, hive health, pollination and honey testing. An important part of the day will be an open-floor, group discussion where the topic of the day is addressed, ‘beekeeping business models that work’.

“When you get that many people in a room who are all passionate about, and have expertise in, a subject as nuanced as beekeeping and running a sustainable beekeeping business, there is a lot we can learn from each other,” Bowyer says.

“We will look to stimulate discussion and draw out what we can, because we are at a time in the beekeeping industry when re-shaping businesses to models that are profitable is a challenge, but achievable. We see that in many of our clients.”

There will be no shortage of opportunities for beekeepers to discuss such topics away from the microphone throughout the day either, with a coffee cart from 8am, before the first plenary session starts at 9am, then a 90minute, fully-catered lunch break, before drinks on site from 3pm. After that the discussions move to nearby Mount Maunganui for a ‘Buzz and Brews’ social session at a bar and restaurant.

“While some of the topics discussed will be deeply important to those in attendance, we are planning an inviting environment and one with plenty of relaxation too,” Bowyer says.

The host points out that their open days are always a collaborative effort, with sponsorship from a range of industry suppliers who add to the event by being present on the day with trade displays, from lab testing, to beekeeping equipment supply, plus freight and compliance.

“They help fund these open days as a thank you to the hard-working primary producers of the industry. That means, if nothing else, the price is right for beekeepers to attend! All we ask is anyone planning to attend RSVPs via email, which will help us keep them informed”.

NZ Beeswax Free Open Day, Hamilton, July 11

The earlier event of NZ Beeswax will follow a similar structure to their equivalent Open Day last winter – informative sessions from experts, wrapped around a free morning BBQ, lunch and drinks to close the day. The event will offer more immediate and applicable ‘in hive’ discussions than some other beekeeping get-togethers general manager Nick Taylor says.

“The focus is more immediately applicable findings and products. Varroa management, viruses, queen rearing, and the latest products launched in the USA by Veto-pharma, the French company behind Apivar, will be major talking points,” he says.

A full agenda is yet to be finalised, but those wishing to attend or stay informed are asked to RSVP.

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RSVP Details

NZ Beeswax’s Free Open Day, email: hamilton@beeswax.co.nz

Mānuka Orchard’s Free Open Day, email thehive@manukaorchard.com

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