Newly Minted Honey & Bees NZ Chair – “We are in Business and We are Serious”

New commercial-beekeeping industry group Honey and Bees New Zealand (H&BNZ) has an inaugural board and chairperson, Murray Bush, who says the serious business of rebuilding trust among beekeepers begins now. Beekeepers must return that trust though he emphasises, and support the group if it is to hold any weight and survive.

And then there were six … or maybe still eight? Soon to be seven. The first H&BNZ election has resulted in the curious circumstance of a tied vote tally among the two lowest vote-getters, after the ballots closed July 24.

There was an 86% turnout among the 98 eligible voters, cleanly electing Murray Bush, Peter Bell, Matt Goldsworthy, Barry Hantz, Cameron Martin, and Jaime McRae to six seats. Those directors met July 29 for an inaugural board meeting of the group which succeeds Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ) and hopes to unite with New Zealand Beekeeping Inc. There, it was decided another vote will need to take place, as soon as possible, with all voting members to this time be given a choice between the remaining two nominees, Julian McCurdy and Ben Stewart, to fill the seventh and final director seat.

Regardless of the result of that, new chair Murray Bush says he expects the eighth-place-getter to be involved in some form from outside the board room, helping shoulder what is likely to be a heavy workload for the elected directors. A part time administrator has been appointed on a three-month term, while the initial meeting of the new leadership has seen them jump straight into the work programme, Bush says.

“I couldn’t think of a better legacy project” says now retired Marlborough beekeeper Murray Bush, just two years removed from his family’s three-generations and 108 years in commercial beekeeping, as he now steps into the chairperson role of Honey & Bees NZ’s inaugural board.

“We're in business, and it's serious,” the new chair stresses, just hours removed from that pivotal first meeting.

“It is important people understand that, because there are people who are sitting on the fence just waiting to see what happens. And we need them to step up now, not later, because the success of the group is going to be determined by who gets counted. We've got some pretty serious meetings happening in the next four weeks, we need to be able to say we are the voice of the industry. And for ministers to take us seriously, we need to back that up with some numbers.”

While there has been considerable debate around the narrowing of the new group’s focus to almost purely commercial beekeeping interests, as opposed to ApiNZ’s model which more greatly empowered non-commercial beekeepers and honey marketers, Bush enters his role with a board “unapologetic” of the constitution which H&BNZ will be operating under, but practical.

“The objective of Honey and Bees NZ is to provide the framework for successful commercial beekeeping in New Zealand, and we are unapologetic of this goal. But in the same breath, we cannot operate our bees in isolation. Hobby beekeepers, other industry groups, honey traders, scientists, equipment suppliers and export markets are all part of our industry well-being. The success of H&BNZ will be how we achieve our primary goal, while balancing all the other stakeholders,” Bush says.

He acknowledges that industry success will only come from the collective efforts of beekeepers and “associated personal”, and therefore among the first jobs is creating the networks to harness those efforts.

“Starting immediately, communication channels will be established with UMF, NZBB (New Zealand Bee Health and Biosecurity), Mānuka Collective, MPI and Biosecurity New Zealand, all regional clubs, hubs and ad-hoc beekeeper groups. It's critical that we give ownership back to grassroots beekeepers and make them feel valued and part of a democracy process that brings their voice to the top table in whatever form that means,” Bush says.

In time, he hopes the group can build the structures which not only allow beekeepers’ voices to be best heard, but that will build a new generation of leaders and contributors. For now though, Bush is confident they have the right personal on the board for the right time.

He comes to the chairperson’s position two years removed from what was just shy of four decades at the helm, along with his brother, of a multigenerational Marlborough beekeeping business. The J Bush & Sons brand was synonymous with Marlborough beekeeping and renown for their Molesworth blue borage honey, gathered on New Zealand’s largest farm. The hives and brand were sold in 2024 to now-fellow-board-member Matt Goldsworthy. That seemingly ended a 108-year connection between the Bush family and commercial beekeeping, which began with Murray’s grandfather in 1916. Now though, despite no longer picking up the hive-tool day-in day-out, Bush has reconfirmed a strong connection to the industry.

He says he never intended to be the chair of the new group, but “it’s just the way it has evolved” and that he “couldn’t get a better legacy opportunity”.

“I think it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to be involved in something like this. Clearly it's been a passion of mine, and now that I've got the time to spend on it, I've got to give it my all, and it's not forever. I'm hoping, if I do my job properly, there's going to be a whole heap of people lining up to take our place. My job is to get the ball rolling,” he says.

He stresses that his board is not naïve to the challenges ahead and that they plan to meet regularly over the next several weeks to advance a work programme heavy on the administrative tasks unavoidable in a new undertaking.

While only 98 full (self-defined “commercial” beekeepers) or life members (transferred over from ApiNZ days) were eligible to vote, the total membership role is now around 150, which includes non-commercial beekeepers and other industry stakeholders. More will need to get involved if H&BNZ is to survive, the newly minted chair reinforces

“We need trust from beekeepers, trust in the board, and we need beekeepers to get involved and put their hands up and do the raft of jobs that are going to come their way. Because this is impossible for seven people to achieve. But we can provide the framework for the members to create the future that they want.”

Bush is adamant that H&BNZ is future focused and calls the situation of needing membership trust and confidence, before that trust and confidence can be built, “chicken and egg”.

“The board is serious, we're open for business, and aiming at giving commercial beekeepers ownership is the key to our future,” Bush says, adding optimistically, “and the rest will follow”.

Details on H&BNZ and membership can be found at https://apinz.org.nz/honey-and-bees-new-zealand/