Why Kiwis are swarming to the bees
As sourdough and veggie gardens soared in newfound popularity around the country in 2020, so too did apiculture. Nicole Barratt talks to some new fans.
In one corner of Chanel Brinfield’s backyard, next to a chicken coop, bees hum in their hive. It’s a relatively new home for the insects, constructed by Brinfield, 34, a few weeks back. She opens the hive to inspect it, spots her queen bee, then points out the brood – the eggs, larvae and pupae of bees. Some cells are already capped with honey. ‘‘They’ve definitely been busy,’’ she says.
Brinfield is among a slew of new beekeepers who have avidly embraced apiculture post-New Zealand’s Covid-19 lockdowns. Through October and November alone, ApicultureNZ received more than 500 new beekeeper registrations, the majority of which are hobbyists.
Brinfield moved to Wakefield, Tasman, from Wellington after the country’s first lockdown earlier this year.
‘‘I’ve always wanted to have more of a self-sufficient lifestyle, and I’ve always been interested in being a hobbyist beekeeper.’’
Her move south, pairedwith the Government’s zero-fees offer of industry courses offered an opportunity to do just that. Currently she’s enrolled in an Otago Polytechnic apiculture course based in Nelson.
‘‘I work as a nurse, and it’s manageable to do alongside that.’’
For Brinfield, beekeeping is meditative. ‘‘Sometimes I just kneel by the hive quietly and watch, they’re fascinating. You become conscious too of things the average person probably wouldn’t be, like weather, the wind, when things are flowering; it’s a great way to become more connected with everything around you.’’
Apiculture New Zealand’s Charlotte Lee-Smith says they’ve noticed Kiwis’ interest in beekeeping rise this year across the country. They can tell, as every new beekeeper needs to register their hive under the American Foulbrood Pest Management Plan.
‘‘Levels of popularity are definitely up. It’s continually gone up over the past five years, but I think people are just interested in general now in what they can do in their own backyard after Covid.’’
Beekeeping is certainly no new trend, there was a particular spike in interest a few years back in backyard and urban beekeeping. No longer was beekeeping confined to sprawling rural areas of the country, a beekeeper was just as likely to be your neighbour. The trend was linked to people learning about the importance of bees and a desire to live more sustainably. Some reported growing their own food at home but not getting results because of the lack of pollination, so that steered them towards beekeeping.
But in 2020, projects linked to the land and sustainability have grown exponentially, if the pandemic-infused world’s newfound passion for sourdough loaves and vegetable gardens is anything to go by. Be it baking, gardening orwhatever hands-on hobby Kiwismight have picked up, when they were confined to their homes these activities were grounding, not to mention satisfying. They were bound by two common themes: slowing down and appreciating where things come from.
Beez Thingz, a South Auckland-based company which sells nucleus colonies and queen bees (as well as rent hives) has seen popularity soar with orders and enquiries from new beekeepers. Beez Thingz’s Ibrahim Mohammed says demand for bees has been up 70 per cent this year, and they can’t keep up with it. He agrees Covid has had some part to play in it.
‘‘There’s been huge demand for starter colonies from all over the country. Quite a lot of sales of these new colonies have been to younger groups, around the 25-30 age bracket, who are just trying it out. A lot of them are wanting to live more off the grid after Covid.’’
In just the past week, Trade Me says the company has had 2800 searches for ‘‘beekeeping’’, and 69,000 searches for ‘‘bee’’. But it’s not just bee-suppliers who have noticed a spike in interest in their products and animals, Mohammed says he’s spoken to local chicken breeders who have said the same thing. ‘‘I think it really just goes alongside people wanting to know where their produce comes from.’’
The beekeeping bandwagon encompasses some familiar faces. Australian actor Chris Hemsworth and the UK’s David Beckham both took up beekeeping over lockdown, and shared photos of their hives and harvests earlier in the year.
The Government’s announcement of free courses in construction, agriculture and community work (covered by the $320 million targeted training fund), naturally contributed to Kiwi beekeepers’ numbers.
Funding has been available from July as part of NZ’s Covid19 recovery plan.
The Eastern Institute of Technology (with Hawke’s Bay and Taira¯whiti, Gisborne campuses) offers a Certificate in Apiculture, and enrolments totalled 87 students this year, compared to 48 students in 2019.
Apiculture tutor Guilherme da Silva Vilhena says about 20 per cent of students want to get into commercial beekeeping, for the majority it’s a hobby. Age in the classroom spans from 19 to 69.
At Otago Polytechnic, 400 students across the country enrolled in 2020 in their Certificate in Apiculture (Level 3). Campus manager Kelly Gay says they’ve had significant interest in enrolments in apiculture and a number of their land-based programmes this year, and general horticulture, nursery and fruit production were up there alongside beekeeping.
‘‘There’s awhole raft of things that have happened post-Covid, but one is people have become more interested in how they can make a contribution to saving the planet. So certainly the government making a lot of primary sector training free has had amultiplying effect [on apiculture course enrolments], I think. For a lot of people it was the last barrier.’’
Honey has been in hot demand overseas. Covid-19 saw a renewed interest in natural food sources and monofloral ma¯nuka honey exports were up 23 per cent this March, with total honey exports from NZ higher in April than in any previous month. In one celebrated case, a UK shopper bought $62,000 worth of a Northlandma¯nuka honey in a single transaction from department store Harrod’s.
Bee populations internationally have been threatened for some time now by complicated causes such as the varroa mite, viruses, climate change, habitat loss and pesticides. But thanks to a history of good beekeeping practice and strict biosecurity legislation, New Zealand enjoys a healthy bee population.
Auckland Beekeeping Club president Steve Leslie notes that in the USA, often there are large numbers of hives and bees transported to one area for pollination, therefore they’re more susceptible to disease transmission. New Zealand doesn’t have that to the same extent.
‘‘We’ve got a lot more hobbyist beekeepers and honey production is much larger in New Zealand for beekeepers compared to pollination.’’
Because we haven’t faced the same challenges, this year’s increase in beekeeping hobbyists won’t dramatically change our beekeeping landscape, Leslie says, but regardless, it’s positive.
‘‘Councils are quite supportive too of suburban and urban beekeeping, and that’s helped both individual beekeepers coming into beekeeping, and the diversity and market overall for honey in New Zealand.’’
At the end of the day, the country’s latest swarm of beekeepers simply means more people are becoming aware of bees and their importance to the environment, which is good news for us and the trees.
For Brinfield, plenty of this summer will be spent in her beekeeping suit. If she manages to produce enough honey, the first pot will likely go over the fence to her neighbours. ‘‘That’s the thing that’s amazing in itself when you keep bees – you go from being a person who wants to be more connected to their environment, to actually being more connected to the people around you, too.’’