Beekeeping in Tauranga County

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 84, Issue 3, 15 March 1952, Page 223

Beekeeping in Tauranga County

By

R. GODDARD,

Apiary Instructor,

Department of Agriculture, Tauranga

BEEKEEPING in Tauranga County has grown tremendously in the last few years and there are 20 commercial beekeepers operating approximately 6000 hives. The annual production of honey, which has more than doubled over the past 5 years, is estimated at 230 tons. Additional honey produced in domestic apiaries is considerable.

TAURANGA COUNTY, on the sea coast of the Bay of Plenty, extends from the Athenree Gorge in the northwest to the Otamarakau Valley in the south-east and is bounded inland by the Kaimai Range. The county is approximately 70 miles long and its width varies from roughly 8 to 30 miles.

With the exception of a large area of swamp country in the Te Puke district, the topography of the county is undulating to hilly, with rolling country near the coast rising to a series of low hills. A characteristic feature of the landscape in the Tauranga and Te Puke areas is the series of steep parallel gorges which run approximately at right angles to the coast. These gorges, which are 100 to 200 ft. deep and about 200yds. wide, break the country into a series of plateaux along which farming is carried out. The gorges widen as they near the coast and ultimately merge with the rolling coastal country. Most of the coastal country is developed, but large . areas of the upper regions are still covered with fern and manuka and there are big areas of native bush further inland

an j along the Kaimai Range. The series of gorges are uncultivated and covered mainly with native bush, and from this source early-spring feed is available for bees. c -I t- = .oil 1 ypes and Mimate Most of the soils in the county are pumiceous in origin; they warm up rapidly in spring, but are liable to dry out fairly • rapidly in summer. Soil types are undoubtedly important in relation to nectar secretion and the resultant crop of honey, but contrary to results obtained in other areas with similar soil types, clover both grows and blooms profusely in this district, but only occasionally does it yield nectar freely. Usually good weather is experienced when the honey flow starts in late

November or December, and the rainfall, which averages 52.9 in. a year, is reasonably well distributed over the district, but there is danger of droughts in January, February, and March. History Commercial beekeeping in any large way did not start in the county until the late 1930’5. During the next few years one or two beekeepers worked the district, but it was not until about 1940 that apiarists realised its potential value for beekeeping. However, rapid expansion did not take place until the end of the Second World War. The number of beekeepers and hive holdings has doubled over the past 6 years. The hives are distributed fairly evenly throughout the county, but due to the rapid growth of commercial beekeeping, overlapping •of apiaries has taken place and established beekeepers are now finding it extremely difficult to find new apiary sites without further encroachment. Apiary Management In the mild climate of this district brood rearing in the hive is carried on to some extent throughout winter; consequently, hives build up rapidly on the early nectar flow from manuka and willow. Usually, difficulty is experienced in keeping colonies in two brood chambers, and it is often necessary to add a further super. A critical period is reached when, as invariably happens, a break in the fine weather occurs during the latter part of October. High winds and rain are quite common at that time of the year and, if not watched carefully, hives full of brood become dangerously low in stores. Many inexperienced beekeepers have lost as many as 60 per cent, of their hives at this stage of the year.

With queens laying all the year round it is essential that hives be requeened annually. Most commercial

beekeepers breed their own queens, but some prefer to buy from reputable queen breeders. The leather-coloured Italian bee seems to be preferred. Beekeepers are somewhat fortunate in that the early nectar flow and mild weather enable them to produce goodquality queens in spring. Good mating is normally achieved, but failures sometimes occur when the weather is unsuitable. Autumn-reared queens are also favoured and beekeepers make good use of their many nuclei hives to carry the queens over the winter. Even with annual requeening of hives, swarming is occasionally excessive, but generally beekeepers who practise normal swarm control procedure are capable of preventing the loss of swarms and the resultant loss of crop. Diseases For many years American foulbrood disease (Bacillus larvae) hampered the progress of commercial beekeeping in the county, and at. one time it was feared that this dreaded disease would force existing apiaries out of the area. For this reason the Te Puke and Tauranga areas were considered unsuitable for beekeeping, but systematic inspection of hives over the years by beekeepers and Instructors of the Department of Agriculture, plus the burning of all diseased hives, gradually cleaned up the area. Today occasional outbreaks are experienced, but the situation is now well under control. Nosema apis disease was prevalent two or three years ago, but regular requeening of hives seems to have overcome this problem to a large extent. The larger wax moth (Galleria mellonella) , which breeds freely on this coastal strip, is one - of the serious pests and in the past the larva of this moth•' has caused great damage to stored combs and on combs containing pollen. These pests breed prolifically and cause widespread damage in a very short time. Fortunately, however, stringent control measures undertaken by commercial beekeepers have prevented this pest from gaining the upper hand. Equipment Most beekeepers in the county use the 10-frame Langstroth hive, which

is recognised as standard throughout New Zealand. Honey houses have shown a marked improvement over the last few years, with most beekeepers preferring the one-floor system with the honey pump an essential part of their extracting equipment. Warming rooms to facilitate, honey extraction are very much in favour and they are gradually being installed. For the producer packing honey in retail containers, cool rooms are also essential in this district, as the high temperatures in January, February, and March make satisfactory granulation of newly extracted honey impossible. With cool rooms maintained at a constant temperature of 56 degrees F. during the honeypacking season it is possible to have a smooth-grained honey a few days after extracting. Nectar Sources A wide range of flora from both pasture lands and bush sources is available to bees. During the past few years it has been most significant that bush and pasture sources have yielded nectar alternately each season; thus beekeepers whose bees are within reach of both sources have been assured of a crop even when one or the other of the two sources has failed. Land development is proceeding rapidly and a wider range of clover pasture is gradually being made available to the bees. However, in the steep gorges and hills and in the swamp land big patches of manuka still remain. Most beekeepers do not extract honey from this source, but save it for bee feeding. Some apiarists have special apiaries situated in manuka areas for the collection of feed honey. By this method they are able to strip other hives of all goodquality honey and the manuka honey is used for winter bee feeding. Straight willow (Salix jragilis) , cabbage tree (Cordyline australis),

and . barberry (Berberis vulgaris) . are also invaluable nectar sources in spring. In some years a surplus of barberry nectar is collected and stored by the bees, but as the honey is very dark, producers prefer the bees to use this honey for brood rearing. The heaviest nectar-yielding tree in this area is the rewarewa (Knightia excelsa), which abounds all along the foothills and in the gorges. The honey is dark and has a sweet, mild, toffeelike flavour. In good years hives have been known to average 160 to 2001 b. surplus from this source. Other bush species which attract the bees and yield nectar heavily are the koutukutuku (Fuchsia excorticata) and five finger (Nothopanax arboreum) in the spring and tawari (Ixerba brexioides) and kamahi (Weinmannia racemosa) later in the season. Pohutukawa trees (Metrosideros tomentosa) are most conspicuous along the coastal stretches of the county, where they usually bloom in December. It is possible to see the nectar glistening in the bases of the flowers and a shake of a branch will bring down a shower of it. Big crops of water-white honey are stored in apiaries near pohutukawa, as the bees work these trees very heavily. The honey has a characteristic flavour which is quite pleasant once the taste has been acquired. Beekeepers have found that this honey must be extracted quickly, as it is liable to granulate in the combs in 10 to 15 days. On few occasions good yields from clover are obtained, but generally it yields very spasmodically and it is rather fortunate for the beekeeper that Lotus major (uliginosus), which abounds throughout the county, yields nectar quite heavily and the honey produced is of very good quality. Buttercup (Ranunculus spp.) is also fairly prominent in parts of the district and catsear ‘(Hypochaeris radicata) , dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), and hawkweed (Crepis . capillaris) are invaluable minor sources of nectar supply in the county. Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) grows on much of the uncultivated land. The honey from this source is dullish white and has a very pleasant flavour.

Shelter and Apiary Sites

Although difficulty has been experienced in getting suitable apiary sites to which access is available by truck, most beekeepers have their apiaries in excellent situations. As winds are usually fairly severe in the latter part of spring, apiaries must be well sheltered. The most popular type of shelter used by farmers and orchardists is lawsoniana or barberry. Fortunately, these two hedges also give ideal shelter to the bees, and the undulating country allied With intelligent planting of shelter belts help to break up the severe winds. There are many large orchards in this area producing citrus and subtropical fruits. Although citrus are largely self-pollinating,. blossom fertilised by the bees appears better able to withstand sudden changes of temperature. Orchardists are fully aware of the bees’ value for pollinating and beekeepers are frequently requested to place hives in or near Orchards. All photographs by Rendell’s Photo Service.