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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, DECEMBER 2016
waiting to be extracted and for drums full of honey waiting to be exported. However, the actual extraction and settling area is no bigger than our own, just much better designed. We are currently building a new honey house and will definitely be learning from Phoebe’s experiences in this department. ‘Even queen rearing and re-queening seems to be much less complicated and less intensive than our own endeavours, while resulting in 80–90 per cent of the production colonies going into winter headed by a young queen. I’m looking forward to learning much more about this in the forthcoming year. ‘However, the situation for bee farmers in New Zealand hasn’t been all plain sailing this year. The weather has been far from predictable, with an early drought and water restrictions in some areas being followed by heavy rain storms. This led to a lack of nectar flows as the nectar was washed away before any bees could collect it. The manuka in the area where Phoebe was located was very late flowering and flexibility regarding the placement of the hives became paramount. We are reminded that being adaptable, looking for good forage crops and moving the bees to them is now an integral part of our own bee farming. ‘When Phoebe left for New Zealand, her sponsors, Freedom Brewery, had recently installed a water reclamation and wetlands area to deal with the copious amounts of waste water resulting from the brewing
Phoebe visited several extraction set-ups in her time on North Island.
process. Freedom Brewery has a very strong ethos of environmental sustainability and its name refers to the fact that its lagers are completely free from animal derivatives and harmful chemicals. ‘The apiary they have created next to some of the purifying ponds and reed beds is to be looked after by Phoebe with a little help from ourselves. We have supplied both hives and bees. Press interest in the brewery’s bees has exceeded all our expectations. Both local and national press is awaiting Phoebe’s return from New Zealand in order to interview her about the apprenticeship scheme and Freedom Brewery’s involvement in it. This opens up huge marketing opportunities for them and, indeed, for us. Hopefully good publicity for the BFA, too!’ Secretary of the Bee Farmers’ Association, and Bee Farmer editor Alex Ellis for permission to reprint and supplying photographs, some of which are reprinted here. Thanks also to Apiculture New Zealand Waikato Hub member Pauline Bassett for liaising with the Bee Farmers’ Association to obtain permission to reprint these articles. Source Ginman, M. (2016, Apr). Apprentices in New Zealand. Bee Farmer, 2 (2), 4–9. Photography: Isaac Knap, Phoebe Lamb and supplied by Sebastian Leaver. [Editor’s note: part two of this article will appear in an upcoming issue of The New Zealand BeeKeeper. ] Acknowledgements Thanks to Margaret Ginman, General
Taking samples for UMF (Unique Manuka Factor) testing.
‘It makes me feel like the luckiest person alive when someone from my home town compliments my tan and asks if I had a nice holiday. In response, I get to say: “Thank you, I was training with the help of the Bee Farmers’ Association”.’ Phoebe’s employer’s view Kathy Shaw, Phoebe’s employer (and mum) says of the experience: ‘Firstly, a massive thank you to the Rowse/BFA apprenticeship scheme, without which Phoebe’s apicultural career opportunities would be seriously diminished. Visiting a very large and successful bee farming enterprise in New Zealand has meant that Phoebe has been able to experience a very professional operation, the sheer scale of which precludes poor management techniques which would be uneconomical in terms of time, labour or equipment; or, as Phoebe says: “There’s no faffing about!” ‘The extraordinary ease of handling the hundreds of colonies with which she has been working has taught both Phoebe and ourselves an enormous amount. Her photographs of palletised hives, crane-lifts, hoists, flat-bed trucks, stacker trucks and helicopters are having an immediate influence on how we are planning improvements to our own operation. British costs would probably prevent us from hiring too many helicopters, but we are now giving serious consideration to improving our processes for lifting and transportation of hives. ‘The kiwi honey-harvesting process which Phoebe has shown us also demonstrates extreme simplicity and efficiency. Kaimai Range Honey, where she has been working, has very large storage areas for both supers
Tamara Mitchell (left) and Phoebe Lamb (right).
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