Bighands

BUT WE ARE ONE NATION,NOT MAORI AND PAKEHA

I talked to a member of the Maori Council many moons ago and suggested that the maori's trademark the name Manuka. Did they do that? No.They have themselves to blame. Manuka is a maori name so they have themselves to blame for any other culture using one of their words to describe a type of honey or plant.

We used to tie an empty sardine tin to the fence and I watched a young bear have a go at the tin twice then ran away.

tHE ELECRic fences did not keep them out.When they are hungry and know where the next meal is an electric fence is nothing. I have seen these fences destroyed

When I worked there I saw an apiary of 50 hives with nothing on the base.The bears had carried boxes of bees,honey and pollen about 30 mtrs away and left such a mess that we burnt the lot.Now this is in the fall[autumn].T he reason being if they do not eat protein to survive the winter they die. The wildlife department tried to relocate the bears 250 miles away and the same bear came back and attacked the apiary again.So they now trap the bears and destroy it.Our Canadian beekeepers can fill in more dtails than I can

Why not ?

THERE are only 2 people not using chemicals at all to control varroa in nz thjat I know of.The guy in Gisbourne and a guy in Taranaki right under the moountain.

Kaihoka,I believe that Pohutukawa set hard as well, but I have had no experience with this tree maybe someone else can answer that question.

If it has not crystalised by now then I am sure it is not Southern Rata.Mine goies hard uncapped on the beehive.

Correct, if you treat how can you tell if the bee is tolerant or not.To do this vhs queen stuff you need a closed breeding program or drones from those hives and we have not got that to the best of my knowlege

If you do have a mountain of it what price do you want for it?

I am sure you will never see varroa resistant bee.You will see varroa tolerant bees.Think about Apis Cerana where the varroa came from, they are tolerant not resistant

James,We have always had to compete in the world market,this is nothing new.Are you sure your honey is 'clean", do you know what your neighbours spray on their paddocks and do you test for these chemicals? No disparity at all between North or South buyers.It deoends on you relationship with the buyer. I f you do not stick with your buyer in bad time how do you expect him to treat you in good times.Loyalty wins out over changing buyers every 1 or 2 years.

Why do we need two audits?

yes,they are.The hive containd bees so has to be inspected for AFB there fore the owner/operator should pay a levy just like any one else.