Sweet spot: It’s a bee plus
The first batch of honey harvested from hives in Christchurch’s residential red zone should have extra sweetness and flavour.
Christchurch beekeeper Simon Phillips, of Gold Fern Honey, handed the first tub of ‘‘red-zone honey’’ to Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods yesterday. ‘‘It tastes delicious,’’ she said.
As Phillips, surrounded by more than half a million European honey bees and 10 beehives, scraped the honeycombs, he said the Dallington batch would have its own distinctive flavour and more sweetness.
‘‘Around town you can notice a big difference. Honey from here compared to Cashmere, you can taste the difference. It comes down to whatever is in it, the different florals.’’
Partner Isabelle Davour said the abundance of flowers and fruit trees planted by the former residents of the red zone gave more depth of flavour to the batch. Phillips manages the 10 red-zone hives on behalf of Land Information New Zealand (Linz) along with another 350 hives around Christchurch. He started harvesting the private, secluded spot as part of a transitional project to bring bees to the area.
Linz supports groups such as Gold Fern Honey to develop and trial new activities, including establishing four community gardens, the Life in Vacant Spaces Trust, several sports events and children’s days.
Woods said significant regeneration of the flora in the area made it an ideal feeding location for bees. In April, redzone leases were extended from two years to five, widening the scope of
‘‘You can taste the difference.’’ Beekeeper Simon Phillips
possible projects, she said. ‘‘We want to see that space as a blank canvas for people with good ideas to be able to use them.’’
Phillips, a former Yukon goldminer, said though it was rewarding to see the fruits of his labour, beekeeping was ‘‘hard work’’. Getting stung several dozen times a day was nothing more than a slight nuisance and part and parcel of the job, he said. One hive usually provided around 30 kilograms of honey per year but several Canterbury hives had produced over 80kgs after warm summers. The abundant supply of a balanced diet for the bees had created strong colonies that were well equipped to fend off diseases that might affect other New Zealand hives.