frazzledfozzle

A good article on Comvita donating Manuka bandages to help animal burn victims in Oz. Credit where credits due https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/118853746/australian-bushfires-conservationist-healing-injured-wildlife-with-kiwimade-mnuka-honey

we got a little bit of mono last season. Had more non Manuka and multi than mono though. none of our mono had a high NPA it was mostly only just a 5 or in the 4’s We eventually sold all our honey but it took a lot of phone calls and talking to a lot of different people we had never sold honey to in the past. None of our regular buyers were interested in any of it. The Manuka market has changed there’s no longer the clamour to buy honey and we feel very fortunate we were able to sell. prices ranged from $5kg for our non Manuka up to $24 for a our best honey with most of it selling in the $12-$18 range. We should be discussing prices we have been able to get because I know some beekeepers are getting ripped off right now. There is also a lot of mono sitting in sheds unsold both very high NPA mono and low NPA.

I don’t think anyone in Delhi, Bangkok, London etc cares what we are doing in our own backyards to “ fight climate change” When you stand on a pedestrian over bridge in Bangkok and can hardly breathe because of the fumes or see a river in Bali that is a seething mass of bank to bank plastic and rubbish it really brings it home how puny any attempt we make here really is. Which is not to say don’t do it, it will help keep our own country cleaner but it’s naive ,in my opinion, to think it will make any difference globally.

and that’s wonderful but it’s not going to make a scrap of difference in the scheme of things. Even if everyone in the whole of NZ did as you are doing it would make no difference.

nah not a fan of Marlborough it’s all flat land with grapevines as far as the eye can see and windy as.

I think the reality is the tough times are here to stay for more than a few years. If you produce mono Manuka you will be better off than those that aren’t but even mono is not sold as easily or for as much as before the standard came out. Many people came into the industry during the boom when any kind of honey was worth good money. Now that honey is unsaleable or if desperate you might be lucky to get someone to buy it for a few dollars a kilo. Theres three options find mono Manuka sites, try and sell hives and gear and get another job hold on and hope for $8kg honey sometime in the future or go broke trying. i don’t see option 3 as viable because I don’t see 8kg for Bush honey even monofloral Bush honeys anytime in the near future. I always feel like a negative Nancy when I post like this but I just can’t see any kind of future for anyone producing non Manuka

I believe climate change is real but I don’t go along with the idea that some have put forward here that their kids won’t live to reach their age because the earth will be unliveable. I also believe nothing NZ does as a nation will make a scrap of difference to anything. climate change is the popular buzzword right now and will be until something else comes along to take over the media’s attention.

Not only can they call anything Manuka honey they can also use the words active, bio active etc as well as counting the peroxide activity which gives them the opportunity to say their honey is more active than NZ. what I don’t understand is how come our labelling laws changed to make it illegal to use the words active bio active etc and the reason given at the time was because we had to fall into line with the Australia NZ food labelling rules whereas Australia can put anything they like on their labels

The West Coast of the South Island has to be one of the best places on this earth

I’ve been on the coast for the past three days and while the Manuka and Rata are flowering I’m not sure it’s been warm enough for the nectar to flow and the bees to work it.

climate change or no climate change I keep asking what can anybody do about it ? Everyones saying something has to be done and soon but nobody as far as I know has come up with any answers . @David Yanke what do you propose to do? will you go back to horse and cart to do your beekeeping rounds ? Will you grow all your own food and meat and only eat food produced locally? will you wear all non synthetic clothing? Will you never travel in a motorised vehicle of any kind? Will you never light a fire ? What will you do that I and others could do to reduce climate change?

111 years of record keeping. How many years have humans been on this planet ? How many years has this planet been the making ? 111 years is the blink of an eye.

I don’t know how they can put it down to climate change when over 100 people have been arrested for lighting fires and the local and state government haven’t been keeping on top of burning the understory so now they have so many years of dry matter lying on the forest floor it’s been a disaster waiting to happen. and now it has. how is it climate change ? And what is that something that needs to be done ? will everyone give up their vehicles that would make a big difference ? will everyone stop flying ? will manufacturers stop using coal, diesel, gas etc ? will countries stop clearing forests ? no ...but we will ban stickers on fruit that will help !

We are sticking to bayvarol in autumn apivar in spring as recommended by Mark Godwin back in the early days of varroa. His reasoning was Apivar is slower to act so use in spring as the growth of the hive should outrun the increase in varroa giving the apivar time to work. Bayvarol in Autumn because the mites have generally built up to a point they need a quick knockdown and also the hive will be on the decrease . We have changed our management and now dont target a first flow or last flow just the main flow, no point in harvesting honey we cant sell.

If you treat with bayvarol you can still take the honey with Apivar you aren’t supposed too.

perfect !

and how do you propose that will be done ? Everyones running around telling us the world is ending and we have to do something and I would like to know what that something actually is ? As for @Trevor Gillbanks Opinions being described as dangerous I think that’s a ridiculous thing to say. It could easily be said that the panicked climate change zealots opinions are dangerous.

Not sad at all David. Be thankful that we all don’t share the same views and have the freedom to express them. ( although that too will be tested in the not too distant future IMHO ) im sure the climate is changing as it has changed through Millennia but even the scientist can’t agree on the cause or what to do about it. All I’m saying is it doesn’t matter what we do down here in NZ it will not make one iota of difference to the climate one way or the other.

Whatever the reason it’s expanding not shrinking. scientists can’t even agree on what’s what I’m sure in another 20 years there will be all sorts of theories and ideas of looming catastrophes that will come and go. @Sailabee can you post a few links for me to have read ? Actually I’ve had a look myself and there’s plenty to choose from

So I just googled Antarctic ice cap and @Trevor Gillbanks is correct it is actually expanding.

I think the deadliest threat to most life is some crazy despot who gets their hands on nuclear or biological weapons and has no compunction about using it. You only have to look around and see some of the people who are leaders of their countries to realise that any of them would be capable of doing it if the opportunity arose. Alternately a volcanic eruption big enough to turn day into night for years. Theres plenty wrong with our stuffed up world but I don’t believe limiting plastic bags or composting my leftovers will help any time soon.

I would be very interested to know what you are doing on a personal level that will help combat global “ climate change “ ? or will your efforts not make one jot of difference ?

I'm a realist

yes but I’m sure banning plastic stickers on fruit will go a long way towards turning that smoke into clean air radioactive or not.

to what end ? what can you as an individual do that will make any difference at all on any level ? slightly off topic I have a huge problem with tax payer money going into buying up productive farms and planting them in pines all in the name of climate change reduction. Pine trees for goodness sake