What do the bees eat when the manuka is finished?

This has been a terrible year for manuka. All over NZ it seems, the manuka flowering never really got going. And just like that - a whole honey season is done!

So, what do bees eat when the manuka is finished?

Well, it turns out that even though manuka honey is the prized honey, the bees are just so-so about manuka nectar. They'll go to manuka if they have to, but given the choice they'll go somewhere else first.

Good beekeepers have a few tricks up their sleeves to encourage bees to go to manuka flowers. If you'd like to learn what these are, check out Module 5: A Good Apiary Site, which will show you the secret tricks to placing your hives, as well as all the things you need to know to ensure your hives are healthy.

But back to the question: What do the bees eat next?

One of the big food sources right now is clover. And the bees just love clover.

Clover is one of the legume family. It has nodules that fix nitrogen in the soil. And nitrogen is an important fertiliser. So getting your clover to produce well is a very cheap form of natural fertiliser.

Clover is an important food crop for grazing animals - think cows and beef. And the big benefit of bees on clover is that they pollinate the flowers. So the next year the clover reseeds more abundantly.

So here we have it - a win win - the bees love clover, and the clover loves bees.

Clover honey is not a pricey as manuka honey, but the bees need to stay alive too. Ready for next season.

Australian Manuka Honey - OK or not OK?

New Zealand is not the only country that grows manuka. Australia does too.

And in fact, Australia has far more varieties of leptospermum than NZ. We have one, leptospermum scoparium, but Australia has 83 types. 83! That's a lot!

And what's more, Australia manuka honey is antibacterial too. Just as good, maybe better, depending on who you talk to (um, that would be a NZer or an Australian).

Check out this report on the good qualities of Australian honey.

But all good, right? The world needs all the natural antibacterial products it can find?

Well, you would think so. And by the looks of all the celebrity endorsement, even the normal properties of manuka honey are useful too. Try googling say Kardashian and manuka and see the face mask recipes that pop up.

But trouble is brewing. After all, 'manuka' is a maori word. So...should the Australians be allowed to call their leptospermum honey manuka?

Well, you pick. But my take on it is that it's still the same excellent honey. And it is the healthy and medical benefits that are important. Especially as other chemical antibacterials are struggling.

So why not share the love around? It seems there is plenty of room for all. Especially if you look at news like this Manuka Fraud. Which would imply that the demand is far greater than NZ's ability to produce.

And all honey industries have their own challenges. Here in NZ we've had an appalling season, honey production-wise. And on top of that have had honey rejected in the UK, and China has increased their scrutiny and requirements for imports. All of which is making it a very skinny year for beekeepers this year.

But this article would suggest that Australia has it's own challenges.

So maybe we should start working together and aim to create a win win situation?

Well, that's my tuppence worth. What do you think?

If you would like to try growing your own manuka trees, check out the free Pictorial Step-by-Step Guide to Growing Manuka from Seeds.

6 Mistakes I've made with my manuka seedlings (and are you making them too?)

I've made about 2000 manuka seedlings in the last couple of years. Purely in the interests of science and experimentation of course. I don't actually have anywhere to plant them.

And they have been growing pretty well too. But 2 years on, some of them are taller than me.

And the flaws in the system are starting to show.

So, what mistakes have I made? (and are you making these mistakes too?). Here they are:

1. I put all the plant bags straight on the bare earth

So all the roots have gone out the bottom of the bags and into the earth. And when I go to pot them up, it's quite a mission.

Such a mission, that some of them do not like their roots being disturbed, and they keel over. They are firmly attached to the soil underneath, and won't let go, and I end up breaking their long tap roots.

2. I haven't potted up soon enough

This is partly the reason for issue number 1. These trees are getting quite big, and should really have been potted up much earlier.

3. I've not been that diligent with weeding

So all the couch grass and convolvulus have grown over the pots.

Sometimes the grass grows up through the bags, and when I lift them the plants definitely do not like it.

4. I've not been diligent enough with watering

Eek! This is the hospital quarters. NOT ENOUGH WATER!

Also, problem 1, their roots were disturbed when I potted them up, and they never really recovered.

But some water might have saved the day.

There's not all that many, compared to the 2000 originals, but these are the big ones, and every death is traumatic.

5. Too much hot sun

I'm a bit short of space in my backyard, so these ones at the front (which are the tall ones) get all the hot hot sun.

Which contributes to problem 4, and means I need to water them every day.

6. Seedlings under dense tree cover

And just to show you can't win either way, some of the seedlings behind these tall ones, are under a big dense magnolia tree. Lots of shade, but they weren't getting wet when it rained.

Which would have been alright if I had watered them, right?

All of these problems really come down to one thing - I should have planted them out when they were no more than a year old. Sure, some would have died out in the field, but they would all have had a much better chance at surviving than left to my neglect.

4 Tips to avoid manuka seedling deaths

So, if you think you are in danger of doing some of these things, here are some tips:

• Plant manuka seedlings within a year of sowing, before they get too big
• Put your seedling bags out on cardboard, not the bare earth
• Water! water water water
• Pot them up sooner

If you are only in the 'thinking about getting started' stage with your manuka seedlings, and wondering how to sow them from seeds, get your free Pictorial Guide to Growing Manuka Trees from Seeds here.

And if you'd like more information on all aspects of growing and planting manuka trees, check out the DIY Manuka Forestry Courses.

The 2017 Honey Season in NZ

How has the honey season been this year? Terrible!

The manuka has hardly flowered at all, around our place. And it looks like it is universal, across the country.

Comvita has come out and said that it expects their honey harvest to be only 40% of normal. Check out the article in the NZ Herald.

Why is the season so bad? Must be the weather. It has been quite cold for summer, for most of the season.

The season is not over yet, and I guess it could still surprise us. My apple tree has decided to blossom. Again. So it has blossoms AND apples on at the same time. And my magnolia is equally confused, it's doing a second round of flowers, after the normal October flowering. Almost like they think it is just spring now.

So what can you do when the weather wrecks your honey season?

Not a lot, but check out these suggestions at Business of Bees.

And may the force be with you. Everyone is in the same boat this year, it seems.

3 fatal mistakes to avoid when starting a new bee business

Are you making these 3 fatal mistakes in your planning for a new bee business?

You've decided that there is money to be made in the manuka honey industry. You've done the research on the interwebs and found a wealth of useful information. It all looks like a dream run. What could go wrong?

Well, that's all fine. And not. 

Here are 3 fatal mistakes to avoid in your planning for a new bee business to take advantage of the burgeoning manuka honey industry.

1. Trying to do everything

Paying people to do some of the tasks is expensive, right? So, no problem, you'll do them all yourself.

Here are some things that are involved in creating honey and bee products and getting them to market:

• own your own hives
• be the beekeeper
• run all aspects of the business
• build boxes
• make queens
• extract honey
• package honey
• sell honey
• make other products, say hand cream or candles
• own the land the hives are on
• grow your own manuka

Doing all this means you are self-sufficient, a grand and wonderful thing.

It also means you are very busy. And very busy translates to only being able to do so much. For a full description of what you are likely to achieve and what to do about it, read more here at businessofbees.com.

2. Not allowing for the weather

We have weather, pretty much guaranteed. And some weather is not ideal. You can bet your bottom dollar on this one too.

So does your financial and business plan allow for a bad season? Or bad parts of the season?

2015/16 was a poor season in parts of NZ, a storm stopped short the manuka honey flow. 2016/17 is not looking too grand either. Word is, it is not so flash in many parts of the country - it's not over yet, but not going good so far. Even though the weather has been pretty benign, you would think.

What if next year is poor? And the year after? Does your plan suggest you will survive? Or do you need a string of bumper crops to make it all work?

Which brings us to mistake no. 3:

3. Using the wrong numbers

The internet is a strange place. You can find just about anything you want. But finding the context is a bit harder.

So here are some numbers the internet might suggest are good for bee business planning:

• growing about 1000 hives in your first year
• getting 40 kg honey per hive
• making $40 / kg on your honey

That sounds great doesn't it? No problem with making a profit then. But there are a few traps using these numbers just straight. It's all a bit more nuanced than it might first seem. 

For more detail on how these numbers can go wrong see this blog post.

And for some ideas on how to fix this, check out the full story in this blog post.

If you can avoid these 3 fatal mistakes and still make your financial and business plan look like it'll work, then you are ahead of the game, and have a good chance of having a business that will work. 

Beehive Thefts

There's been a rash of beehive thefts lately.

There are a few things going that that might cause this: The price of manuka honey is rising fast. And the bee industry is growing like crazy too, with lots of new beekeepers coming in to the industry to try and make a good dollar.

This also means the value of beehives is increasing too. A 2 box hive used to cost about $700 a couple of years ago, now it is above $1000.

All of this creates an industry where the get-rich-pickings seem irresistable, so the opportunity is there for less scrupulous people to take advantage too. Hence the increase in beehive thefts.

Where are the bee thefts from?

This is not from any official source like the police, but my gatherings of anecdotal information over the last month or so.

It seems that beehive thefts have been occurring in quite a few places:

• North Waikato
• Whanganui
• Tauranga
• Hokianga
• South Wairarapa

It doesn't seem to be such a problem in the South Island.

What have the thieves been doing?

Well, this is where it gets a bit bizarre.

There is the usual, which is what you might expect, where thieves take whole boxes. At this time of year it is often 2 box hives. And they leave just a dent in the grass. In one case they took the boxes but left the bases.

And how many hives are taken? It depends a bit on how many hives are at a site. And how many make up a truck or ute load. The numbers are from 12 to dozens.

Thieves have cut through padlocks to get into paddocks. Or lifted the whole lot over wire fences, quite a mission.

In another variation, the thieves took just the frames and bees out of the boxes, and left the boxes behind.

Then bizarrely, there have been a couple of cases it seems, where the thieves took the frames, and replaced them with new plastic foundation frames. Is that weird or not? Well, maybe, maybe not.

Read the full post here for some theories about who these thieves are, and an outline of things you can do to protect your hives.

10 little-known magic medicinal benefits of honey

Jars of manuka honey

The world is in trouble from super-bugs.

Back in 1928 the first antibiotic - penicillin - was accidentally discovered. And it worked a treat, curing all sorts of life-threatening bacterial infections. Other antibiotics were discovered or created. Great! People were declaring the world would soon be completely free from bacterial disease.

But what has happened? Bacteria has developed resistance to our antibiotics. And some of these bacteria are now a huge problem in our hospitals. MRSA is a big one.

Honey as medicine

The answer to all this may well be in honey.

Honey has been used for millennia as a healing agent. And now manuka honey is a thing (and has only been in existence for the last 150 years) it adds an extra layer too (see number 4.).

So, how does honey deal with bacteria?

Here are 10 magical ways that honey can heal bacterial infections:

1. Osmotic Action

The high sugar content of honey pulls water out of the surrounding environment, and effectively dehydrates bacteria, causing them to die.

2. High Acidity

Honey is acidic. This stops microbial growth of bacteria.

3. Hydrogen Peroxide

Glucose Oxidase is an enzyme added by bees - see this post for more about this. It turns into hydrogen peroxide, which is an antibiotic. All honey does this, some more than others.

4. Non-peroxide Activity

This one is manuka honey only. Manuka honey makes methylgloxal (MGO), which is a heat stable antibacterial.

5. Moist Wound Environment

Honey supports the formation of new tissue in wounds by creating a moist wound environment. Most antibiotics delay healing.

6. Debridement

Honey helps with the removal of dead, damaged or infected tissue. This is necessary so the new tissue can grow.

7. Stops Noxious Odours

Deep wounds smell, which is distressing. Honey works to stop these noxious odours.

8. Anti-inflammatory

Honey soothes and relieves inflammation.

9. Anti-fungal

Some honeys inhibit fungal growth.

10. Antioxidants

Honey is an antioxidant. Which we all know promotes good health and longevity.


Isn't that cool? That's for all honeys, not just manuka. Manuka is just extra special, and super powerful.

If you would like to read a bit more of the science, check out the full post at Business of Bees.

If you would like to grow manuka trees, check out the free resources here.