Bees too hot for honey
It’s been so hot bees have stopped making honey so they can gather water to cool their hives down.
The hottest summer on record in many parts of the country has presented another challenging season for beekeepers, particularly in the south.
Variable weather conditions over the past few months had interrupted the honey flow and beekeepers were expecting an average or slightly below average honey harvest for 2017-18, said Karin Kos, chief executive of Apiculture New Zealand.
A Ministry for Primary Industries’ apiculture monitoring report confirmed poor weather conditions during the 2016-17 honey harvest were some of the most challenging experienced by New Zealand beekeepers in the last five years, resulting in one of the lowest honey crops since the 2011-12 season.
‘‘We are not surprised to see the lower volumes of 14,855 tonnes of honey for the 2016-17 season,’’ Kos says.
‘‘While we have had a better season this year, variable weather conditions over the last few months have interrupted the honey flow and as a result we are looking at an average to slightly below average 2017-18 season.’’
Drought and record temperatures in Central Otago have severely impacted on clover honey production in this region and a number of other specialty honey crops.
Peter Ward, of Alpine Honey Specialties in Hawea, has about 5000 hives spread between Northern Southland, Central Otago and the West Coast.
Overall, his honey crop was definitely down this season, with some parts well below average and some areas just around average, he said.
‘‘I’ve talked to a lot of beekeepers who have produced virtually no crop right through to average crops,’’ he said.
‘‘Some beekeepers have been severely affected by the drought and for others it hasn’t impacted quite so hard, but no-one is talking about a good crop, that’s for sure.
‘‘We had a very dry November right through to January and very high temperatures,’’ he said.
‘‘So the bees, rather than gathering honey, they were gathering water to try and cool the hives down. We’ve never seen that before on a scale that it was this year.’’
Ward said clover and thyme honey harvests in Central Otago were well down, but his company’s production losses were partly offset by above average crops of kamahi and rata honey on the West Coast.
Meanwhile, in coastal Otago, the season had been another challenging one for the industry, said Brian Pilley, president of the Dunedin Beekeepers Club.
The region had dried out dramatically in early summer, crops burnt off, honey flow virtually stopped and queens stopped laying.
However, late rain and warm temperatures had triggered a late honey flow in some places. ‘‘It has been another one of those seasons,’’ Pilley said. ‘‘No two seasons are ever quite the same and last season was a disaster.’’