{"id":42752,"date":"2021-02-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/manuka-saving-honeys-buzz\/"},"modified":"2021-02-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-02-23T11:00:00","slug":"manuka-saving-honeys-buzz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/news\/manuka-saving-honeys-buzz\/","title":{"rendered":"Manuka saving honey\u2019s buzz"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

The latest Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) 2020 Apiculture Monitoring report has highlighted how a good harvest season last summer translated into a surge in volumes of all honey produced, with per hive yield of manuka up 39% on the year before in the North Island.<\/p>\n

Overall however, the sector experienced a slide of 6% in average export prices despite a weaker NZ dollar, with a significant 28% export volume increase driving the overall 20% increase in total export value.<\/p>\n

The report has highlighted the growing gap between high-value manuka and all other multi-floral manuka\/non-manuka honeys.<\/p>\n

The average export price for mono-floral manuka honey was $55.36\/kg, compared to $32.44\/kg for multi-floral manuka, and $22.50\/kg for non-manuka honeys.<\/p>\n

The overall production last season of 27,000 tonnes marks a new industry record for volume and was well up on the industry\u2019s 10-year average of 17,972t. Three-quarters of the country\u2019s honey was produced in the North Island.<\/p>\n

Apiculture New Zealand chief executive Karin Kos says last season\u2019s harvest was a healthy one after two relatively light years of honey yields.<\/p>\n

The report also notes the number of beekeepers with over 50 hives dropped by 5%, alongside an increase in hobbyist beekeepers.<\/p>\n

Registered \u201cmega\u201d commercial operations with over 3000 hives also dropped by 5% to 45.<\/p>\n

The overall increase in operator numbers to 6100 from 5799 in 2019 is solely due to an increase in hobbyist operators with less than 50 hives.<\/p>\n

Kos says the impact of higher operating costs and lower returns for non-manuka honey may be forcing some operators to re-evaluate their businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmaller beekeepers without manuka access are exiting. This is the first drop we have had in numbers for 15 years, and maybe we are seeing a bit of a correction,\u201d Kos said.<\/p>\n

Some industry scientists have suggested NZ may have become overstocked with bees in recent years, as more beekeepers enter the industry chasing the lure of high manuka returns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last year NZ recorded more beehives than Australia, with the number of hives quadrupling to one million by 2019.<\/p>\n

But Kos says there has been no science done to determine what peak bee numbers may be.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we will be looking at is what will the longer-term trend be in numbers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The report notes the profitability of most beekeeping businesses did not improve in 2019-20, and for some it was lower than other years. Commercial operators are now either consolidating their businesses or are seeking work outside their beekeeping businesses to supplement income.<\/p>\n

Kos says this harvest season is proving a tough one, thanks to a wet, cold spring impacting on flowering in many parts of the country, and yields are anticipated to be well back on last year\u2019s bumper crop.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has proven to be a very stop-start season to date,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She says the need to raise the profile of NZ honeys other than manuka was highlighted by the report\u2019s latest results.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a good story to tell with manuka, but there is still work to do with the other equally high-quality varieties NZ has,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt comes down to the industry to invest in it itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

She conceded the sector would have to pick its time when considering revisiting a commodity levy payment to help fund such activity.<\/p>\n

In 2019 beekeepers rejected proposals to impose a commodity levy to help fund industry research and marketing.<\/p>\n

Kos says a discussion about future funding and growing value would be a key topic at the industry conference in Rotorua on June 23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While demand for Manuka honey continues to surge, other honey varieties remain moribund, with low prices starting to pressure beekeepers out of the industry.\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":42753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t