Bees and New Zealand by Francesca

                                                           

Bee in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens
 

            Right from the moment we arrived in New Zealand, I noticed a difference between the bees here and those back at home in the US. The little black and yellow pollinators seem to be much bigger than our bumble bees, like mini hot air balloons buzzing throughout the flowers. While visiting the Christchurch botanical gardens, bees were enjoying the diverse and colorful plant and flower life throughout the gardens. Bees play an essential role in pollination in the natural environment but also within farms.

            Through this study abroad program we have had the opportunity to visit a wide variety of farms and ask questions pertaining to their practices. It was fascinating to hear many of them have incorporated apiaries (beehive colonies) to not only supplement their crops but also as an additional source of income. With most markets being overseas, there is a greater amount of risk that farmers may face if markets change, or climate doesn’t align well with crop production. Because of this, many have chosen to spread their risk, one-way being by introducing beehives and harvesting honey.

Beehive boxes pictured at a lavender farm (these were only an example rather than an active beehive)

            In some cases, farmers rely on the bees naturally existing in the wild to help pollinate their crops, while others have chosen to bring in their own and make it a business. This is what David Acland, the owner of Mount Somers Station has done with his farm. Acland’s farm has a wide variety of operations all in one place including, beef, sheep, dairy, stag/velvet (deer – check out the velvet blog!), timber, and you guessed it bees! With such an already expansive list of operations going on at his farm, I was curious as to why he wanted to expand to bees as well. To put it simply, he told us he thought it could be an easy and fun addition to his farm with of course many benefits associated with pollination. When the honey is purely from Manuka it can be sold at $25 per kilo while if its mixed in with clover the price drops to just $5 per kilo. He soon learned it was not as easy as he expected. Nonetheless, Acland has a very successful line of Manuka honey that he sells to overseas markets and locally, which I purchased at his shop in town! (pictured below) It’s amazing to see such passionate and curious farmers give something a try like producing a specialized line of honey or creating a line of premium potatoes (which we learned about at Oakley’s vegetable farm) and turn it into a successful business. All of these farmers have been so inspiring and motivating to a student like myself to pursue what I am passionate about and give it a go!

Mount Somers Station manuka honey


 

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