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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, FEBRUARY 2017
BUSINESS
TUTIN CONTAMINATION HITS EARLY: BE VIGILANT
Apiculture New Zealand Management Team
The risk of tutin contamination in honey has arrived earlier this season. Beekeepers must be vigilant in making sure their honey is not harmful to those who consume it.
With the honey season well on its way, I thought it could be worthwhile thinking about the beekeeping industry as it is now and could be in the future. As has happened throughout New Zealand over recent years, the hive population has continued to increase, affecting us and other beekeepers across the country. MPI’s recent Outlook for Primary Industries report remarked on the increased hive numbers, but also recognised a reduced per hive crop. For some of the bigger operators, apparently they are working on numbers instead of individual crops. But for many of us, overstocking—with the resulting poor crops—is not a good idea. We on the West Coast must be in the best mānuka area of New Zealand, as it appears we are now hosts to 400 or possibly 500 hives put among our apiaries, with a potential stocking rate of perhaps 200 hives for good crops. There has been evidence of early detection of tutin in honey harvested and extracted before December 31, 2016. In many instances, the results are above the legal limit of 0.7 milligrams per kilogram. Previously, it has been honey gathered after January 1 which was most at risk. Of greatest concern is comb honey, but raw extracted honey also has a high-risk potential when handled in small batches. Hawke’s Bay is the most affected region, especially Napier. Beekeepers in the rest of the upper North Island should also be wary. The increase in tutin contamination is a result of nectar sources like honeydew from tutin
Some of the hives have come from as far away as Oamaru, Timaru, Central Otago, Murchison, Marlborough, perhaps the North Island, and other places I have never heard of. Helicopter use is possibly occurring with more hives on the fringes. Our main concern is that these hives, with genes from all over the place, and placed within a hundred metres from some of our apiaries, are delaying the selection and production of our mite-resistant queen bees. Mite-resistant bees will make a difference to all New Zealand beekeepers. It is only a matter of time before chemical miticides will no longer be effective. Recent sugar shakes indicate than many untreated hives have no mites at all, while others have a few. But we need both queen and drone input to give full mite resistance. So if you need mite- resistant bees, thank those who are delaying you from obtaining them. plants becoming more attractive to honey bees due to a lack of traditional foraging flowers leading up to Christmas. It is vital beekeepers are aware of this situation and act in preventing poisonings, by either leaving the honey for the bees, selling to a packer who tests, or paying to get their honey tested. While commercial packers will be able to manage the risk through blending of batches, beekeepers with limited production who only service farmers’markets, roadside stalls or family and friends must be very vigilant. Further information can be found here: http:// apinz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ Tutin-and-the-risks.pdf
Scolypopa australis (passion vine hopper) on a tutu (Coraria) bush, showing the adult and juvenile (‘fluffy bum’) stages of scolypopa. Photo: Frank Lindsay.
Gary Jeffery THE PERILS OF OVERSTOCKING LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Fortunately, we still have some locations where we can mate queens without excessive encroachment for this autumn, but we really need the additional mating areas for next spring. It would be nice if greed was replaced by consideration. Looking ahead, it is obvious that other countries are also looking for the mānuka antibiotic factor in their honeys. With MPI distinguishing between mānuka and kānuka honey, the boom years of New Zealand beekeeping might be drawing to a close. From our point of view, we feel producing mite-resistant queen bees will benefit everyone in the long term. Have a great season despite the present overstocking. Work in with your neighbours and plan to rearrange hive numbers more sensibly than at present.
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