New Podcast with NZ Beeswax GM Discusses Hot Topics

  ADVERTORIAL: NZ BEESWAX 

General manager of leading supply company to beekeepers, New Zealand Beeswax, Nick Taylor recently sat down with Apiarist’s Advocate editor Patrick Dawkins as the first-ever in-person guest on the Apiarist’s Advocate Pod podcast. Topics discussed were as diverse as bee gut health, varroa control methods, recycling of plastic frames, Australia's varroa problems and even the new industry body – here’s some of the highlights.

Nick Taylor, GM NZ Beeswax, recently joined Apiarist’s Advocate Pod podcast to talk some of the most pressing points in Kiwi beekeeping.

“It’s been a roller coaster of a winter so far,” Taylor began the podcast by saying, pointing to New Zealand’s warmest June on record, followed by a stormy front sweeping the country in July.

“What does that mean for the bees and for bee health and for Varroa levels? Only time will tell. Potentially, it's just a short-term blip and it won't have much of an effect. But potentially, it's a trigger for a bit of a snowball coming towards people in the spring … what we do know is the conditions later in spring, August, September, they probably have more of an effect on varroa levels, causing them to start building earlier and really ramp up early, which can catch people out.”

NZ Beeswax is the supplier of Apivar, which offers a ’10 week halo of protection’ thanks to active-ingredient amitraz. Taylor pointed out amitraz is by far commercial beekeepers’ most popular varroa control treatment as per the latest Colony Loss Survey results. Despite the warm weather through June, NZ Beeswax has not seen an increased push in demand for the leading product. Overall though, Taylor reports sentiment is noticeably higher among beekeepers following improved honey pricing last season.

When it comes to varroa control, Taylor matches the results of the Colony Loss survey with what he has learned from extensive travel around the world to beekeeping events in recent years.

“… Beekeepers are using more than one active [varroa treatment] over a 12-month period. They're usually choosing at least two, but often three or four or even five different actives throughout the year. And globally, that's absolutely best practice.”

Gut Health Game Changer

Another pressing topic around the world at beekeeping events is honey bee “microbiota” Taylor told the podcast.

“Essentially, it's gut health of the bees. And there's been a lot of research … it's accelerated in the last decade. And it's about understanding the 12-month cycle of bees going through the environment, going through their beekeeping journey over 12 months and how the interaction with the environment is affecting their gut health. That could be adverse weather, poor nutrition, pesticide exposure, or the effects of migratory beekeeping, transportation.”

 The most recent Colony Loss Survey confirmed amitraz, the active ingredient in Apivar, as the most popular varroa control method used by Kiwi beekeepers.

Taylor points to some of New Zealand beekeepers’ requirements for pollination where hive health and bee microbiota is put under stress, plus the stresses associated with some manuka honey sites and transportation, as times when assisting with bees’ microbiota could go a long way.

The solution, Taylor advises is a new product from Vetopharma called Bactobee.

“It's a beneficial probiotic. One thing that's unique about it is that it's live. So it's a live probiotic…  Essentially, it's five grams, a teaspoon that you sprinkle across the top bars. The reason that you have to do it like that is to preserve the live probiotic. If you add it to sugar syrup, that can potentially kill it. If you add it to a protein patty, the acidified citric acid, for example, that are in those protein patties can kill the bacteria as well. So feed it live and on a top bar and it's consumed pretty quickly.”

It’s a tool to help beehives bounce back from what would otherwise be “pain points” in their seasonal demands Taylor says, so they can be productive for whatever is next.

The Million Dollar Waterblaster

From bee health, the podcast turned to an increasingly important service offering from NZ Beeswax – “we affectionally call it the million dollar water blaster” Taylor said. That being their plastic frame wash, and wax plant based in Hamilton which Taylor advised is only getting better.

“Earlier this year we commissioned our Frame Washer 2.0 version of it … it’s increased the capability, that being the speed we can run frames through and get them back to beekeepers to get into the hives again.”

In the last decade Taylor says that beekeepers have “absolutely voted with their feet” when it comes to the pros and cons of wooden versus plastic frames, and that has resulted in an industry now dominated by plastics.

“We were visiting sheds which were getting fuller and fuller of product which beekeepers didn’t want to dispose of, but didn’t have the time or inclination to process themselves. We thought there has to be a better way.”

That was nearly a decade ago now, and “that’s when we came up with our frame wash and wax all in one service,” Taylor explained.

“It’s been a great success. Well over a million frames have gone through it. I have lost count.”

There has been a recent spike in demand as beekeepers eye expansion again, using recycled plastic frames in a cost effective and environmentally friendly way.

“Extending the life of those plastics is great for the environment and great for everyone’s budget.”

While the wash and wax plant may be in Hamilton, Taylor explained they do have South Island customers and are happy to help liaise between beekeepers to help reduce freight costs.

To hear the full conversation, search Apiarist’s Advocate Pod wherever you listen, or click here.