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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, FEBRUARY 2017
The two local shops and hospital were closed except for emergencies, so we decided to make some ‘Harakeke Lem-Orange Sip’ using our own recipe: 1 spoon of crushed 1000mg vitamin C tablet (or 1 squeezed orange) 1 cap full of cider vinegar
In other respects, the bees are very calm and function normally in terms of pollen, beebread and honey foraging. The LUS effect is something that is in all honeybees to a greater or lesser extent. It is just that managed hives tend to obviate the effect. We have worked out how to switch the LUS effect on and off so we can study it for brief periods to identify the gains for New Zealand beekeeping. The LUS bee is quite small, and is known to have advanced mite resistance. Christmas cheer of various sorts Fortunately, the island has of late received more rain than petrol. Consequently, most of the petrol vehicles and dive boats are parked up waiting for a happier new year after the ship (ocean sleigh) broke down and Santa failed to deliver petrol and frozen goods, ice cream, etc., to the island for Christmas. Fortunately also, copious amounts of liquid refreshment got through; otherwise, the bees and us would have had to consume water. In our busy bee schedule, we cooked and packed our food, phoned up and invited ourselves to Christmas with some elderly friends at the other end of the island. One was recovering from a shoulder operation so she only had one good arm, and he had broken his arm in the last two weeks, so it was arm-in-arm and checkmate. It was a great Christmas shared with friends, and this couple have given the island and us every practical support and encouragement with beekeeping. Harakeke ‘Lem-Orange Sip’ recipe It was great to see the Trees for Bees article on harakeke pollen and honey in the December 2016 journal. Over Christmas we both caught chest colds (imported from Christchurch).
1 teaspoon of harakeke honey 1 crushed paracetamol tablet 4 drops of lemon juice ½ cup boiled water
Raw harakeke honey has a very fine grain, and tends to remain semi-soft. In mum’s repertoire, harakeke nectar and/or boiled root juice was used for throat, sinus and stomach- related illnesses. The harakeke nectar is called wai hakeke (also wai harakeke or ngongo). Actually, ngongo is the word for a tube used to access the harakeke nectar. Ngo is a word for nostril, nguru or nguoro is the word for nose flute and ngongoro is the word for snore. In beekeeping, ngongo is also a word one might use for proboscis. The stalk (korari) of the harakeke plant was used as a drip or sucking filter for water purification. It was fitted into the neck of the drinking gourd. The bees like drinking water from harakeke stalks floating in water. The stalks need regular cleaning and replacement. If necessary, tie the stalks together with flax so the bundle stands up. Jelly bush vs mānuka A swagger camped out with Waltzing Matilda down by the billabong has made claim that Australia could soon match ‘Manika-NZ’ in ‘manika’ honey - in both quality and output volume. (‘Manika’ being the Australian pronunciation for mānuka). Many Kiwis
Kahikatoa seeds. Photo: Michele Andersen.
rightly assert that mānuka honey can only come from the Mānuka-NZ. To re-quote a Muldoonism for readers over 65, “the kiwi gen (general knowledge) is that about 6% of mānuka honey harvested on the Mānuka- New Zealand continent is of very high-quality intelligence and medical grade. The same cannot be said or claimed for our frenz’z jelly bush across the Tazmin”. To put this impending ‘mānuka–jelly bush’ stoush in perspective, we thought we would share with fellow beekeepers from mainland Mānuka-NZ this photo of a seed-laden kahikatoa plant from our selective Mānuka-NZ breeding and research programme. The sheer intelligence and medical grade of this kahikatoa plant should retain the quality balance in Mānuka-NZ’s favour by a further 94%. It would be our view that the Australian swagger should leave the Mānuka-NZ brand name alone and stick to his Australian ‘Jelly Bush’. Planning a visit? If beekeepers are coming to the island, please let us know by e-mailing us at mandersen@ xtra.co.nz
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