Season not so sweet for honey

JOHN EDENS 624193629

LOW BUZZ: Murray Poole inspects a hive at the family apiary near Alexandra.

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Honey producers in Central Otago are expecting the worst season in 20 years as yields drop after woeful spring and early summer weather.

The more pasture is available – primarily clover and thyme in Central Otago – the more nectar is available and the more honey is produced.

But this season a dry, windy spring and early summer has left pasture thin on the ground, after a record haul of 12,565 tonnes last year, with 1700 tonnes from Otago and Southland.

Strathdale Honey owner Blair Dalesaid he expected production at his 1500-hive clover honey business in Middlemarch to fall by 50 per cent. Hive health had improved last month after a windy spring with so little pasture that bees were starving, he said.

However, the price for clover honey had lifted a little to around $5 a kilogram, he said.

It was one of the worst seasons in 20 years, he said.

Russell Poole, a beekeeper for more than 50 years, said a parched spring and early summer meant this year's honey production levels would be "lousy."

Mr Poole owns 700 hives, spread between apiaries in Alexandra, Maniototo and St Bathans, and the family business produces clover and thyme varieties.

"As any farmer will tell you, there hasn't been any pasture around. We will definitely have considerably less honey than last season."

Last season the Pooles produced about 20 tonnes of honey, selling it to commercial packers for $5 to $7/kg.

Price varies depending on type – clover, thyme or manuka – and many producers sell in bulk to packhouses, which brand the honey and sell to the domestic or export markets.

According to the latest Agriculture Ministry report, beekeepers also remain worried about their long-term business viability and the spread of varroa mite, which has reached the upper South Island.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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