Thank you for all who attended our open day, we hope you enjoyed the day and got something out of it. There is a lot of hard work that goes into the day not only from Manuka Orchard but also from the presenters and exhibitors, we are grateful for the input and support we receive.
Highlights from the morning session
Q & A
With Denis Collins - MPI, Malcolm Fluker - Rural Support, John Van Klink & Roger Harker - Plant & Food, Tony Eggleton - NZ Manuka, Logan Bowyer - Manuka Orchard and Russell Smith - Beequip
Based on the research natural sugars are not perceived as the same as sugar cane
Health claims are complicated. Research has not gotten to the stage of showing what affect the prebiotic compounds in NZ honey have. To initiate this research, funding is required. But for marketing purposes, the following can be said:
‘As part of a regular diet, honey containing particular prebiotic compounds could help enhance gut health’
Commodity – lower reward but more volume and low risk
Health benefits – need to substantiate this, more cost & more return
Pharmaceutical – i.e cost of wound bandage with manuka to get into US army is potentially $20M in research & development
Challenge is getting consistency, and funding to research & validate claims
Do we need a single source like other agricultural industries? Or as Logan said, is the value add in staying as individuals with unique stories and capitalising on limited availability on a worldwide scale and communicating through a centralised platform?
Growth - doubling export earnings not production. Linking market back to production starting with a national stocktake
Next step to move up value chain - Trade agreements, understanding who is playing in the fields, connecting the right people
Industry is at a critical point, disconnect with what we hear and what is happening. Beekeepers feel they are down in the pecking order in agriculture export. Improvement in research, and connection between beekeepers and MPI is needed
NZ Honey marketing and consumer tasting worldwide in infancy
Japan typically sells honey in 120g pots – need to research and develop products suitable for markets
Science focus on critical commercially viable topics. C4, bee health and pollination efficiencies
Review National Support for years such as 2022 / 2023 where honey and pollination industries were hit hard by weather
Manuka Orchard Extraction Planning – No minimum box quantity for extraction and is charged on number of box, not volume. Future is smaller volume batches with higher value
POLLINATION
Bee behaviours influence foraging activity and travel resilience
When the tops were checked, either for colony strength or feeding, it disrupted the foraging activity the next day but activity increased in the following 2 days
Colony behaviour is influenced by airflow. Good behaviour is seen when the airflow is in the right position and the right size
Research is selected on what can actually be done, interests and experience. Big changes are more likely to get funding than smaller change projects. How do we measure change? For selecting projects by funding and priority going forward, a collaborative multi-industry approach should be adopted.
Under Canopy pollination – Mitigating the negative effect on your hives
Pollination Q & A
With Shane Max from Zespri, Denis Collins from MPI, Logan Bowyer from Manuka Orchard, Melissa Broussard from Plant & Food, Kate Tomingas from Seeka & Josh Collier Senior Orchard Manager
Big opening in the net roof or sides up – Beekeepers found these methods assist with the bees health and produces better pollination results
Putting up wooden post with flag & different indicators to orientate bees under netting is not scientifically proven but is widely adopted
Orchard Managers need to be talking to Beekeepers about pollination results, changes in variety’s across orchards during the off season (July / August) in preparation for the next season
MPI encourages science based data for decision making purposes in collaboration with all sectors involved
Auditing Hives
Before hives are placed in the orchard for better pollination in the orchard
After pollination to determine hive health post pollination
Auditing the 1st day is affecting foraging
Record information for ongoing research and development
Auditing scheme / quality assurance model to be revisited
In the past a managed auditing system was in place, but failed due to no financial benefit to members
Pollination Pricing
Single use hives are preferred – 140,000 hives required, currently 1/3 of NZ total hives
Average cost to maintain a hive per year - $400 - $450
What is the value of target trays per hectare achieved through good pollination compared to poor pollination?
Cost evaluation to be done for both orchard manager and beekeeper
Currently $230 / $250 a hive is the average pricing. This can increase or decrease depending on individual requirements. Most likely an unsustainable pricing for beekeepers
Revisit pollination standard. Circumstances have changed and this should be look at – research is showing small hives are coming out better than larger ones with better foraging. Specifically for netting covered orchards
Standards for green kiwifruit pollination is 14 years old and no standard has been set for Gold. When the standard was set for green, the trays per hectare targets were half of todays expectations
Both industries are under pressure, and need to work together respectfully to double export earnings in the next ten years
Solution needs to be designed for sustainable pollination as pollination hives are rarely used for manuka production
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