Kiyota.
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. Bees are tiny but mighty players in New Zealand's environment and economy. They pollinate our gardens, native plants and crucial crops, supporting biodiversity and food production across the country. But an invasive threat is looming, the Queen yellow legged hornet. Since June, Biosecurity New Zealand has confirmed several detections of these pests
across Auckland. Today on the front Page, Mahurangi Honey's Pete Johnston is with us to chat local honeymaking and why bees are so important. So Pete, can you tell me how crucial are bees to New Zealand's environment and agriculture sector.
Well, it's very important actually, because you know, they're big on pollination. They not only pollination pollinate for the agricultural sector, but they also pollinate native species, you know, which regeneration of native bush which helps the ecosystems.
Yeah, pollinate seventy five percent of our food do we eat.
I often read things about you know, if the health of bees is in decline, then we're in big troubles because there's such a huge part of the ecosystem.
Hey, most definitely, Yes, most definitely.
So what's this hornet that everyone's so worried about at the moment, and why is it such a huge biosecurity risk for New Zealand.
Well, at threatens of bees. They prey on the bees.
They're they're probably similar to the German wasp, which we've already been dealing with for quite a while in New Zealand. Was there bees, They'll they'll go in there and just pretty much annihilate them. They'll they'll eat the bees for protein, they'll eat the honey for carbohydrates. They'll just thrive, you know, take the German wass for example. In the past that they've come into the New Zealand. They've got no predators. They're very adaptable to the resources around them. We had
apriy up north a little bit. We left them with a couple of boxes of honey on them. They were very strong, fifteen hives on that particular site after harvest so sore looking at January, and we didn't bother putting our entrance guards on, which sort of gives them a little form of protection. And we came back about a couple of months later and there was these big German moss.
They found them and they're just nailing them.
They'd taken out sixty six percent of that apriy, you know. So it's a big problem. Yeah, and not only problems for us, but also for a you know, for the species in New Zealand. They've got the potential to take out all the vertebrates in New Zealand on once they get going.
Yeah, because I see reports of the queens being found, and there seems to be a specific mention of the queens being in constructing a nest, or being in the throes of construction for a nest. How important is it that it doesn't actually solidify? And what happens when they get the nest? Are they making a home for all their millions of buddies or is the queen pregnant or what happens there?
Well, from my understanding, once again, they'd be similar to German German moss does. In between March and February, they go into a mating program of their own.
They'll mate, they'll make about one.
Thousand to two thousand queens, and then those queens will go out hybrid and aw'll be already pregnant and are the beggs and them ready to go? And after winter they'll come out. In each queen, there's a potential to start a new colony.
These wantings are pretty much the same.
They don't make as many, I think from my understanding, to make on an average about three hundred and three point fifty. They can get up to five hundred queens through in a season, probably about the same time as the German wasp and the common wasp, and they'll go and hibernate and then from there so it just goes pretty much you do the maths on, it's pretty much exponential.
So it's really important to nip it in the bud. Now, you know, the MPI, Partner's Conservation, whoever, any government department, they need to really get on board and get whatever resources they can get in there to deal with this critter.
Yeah, well you mentioned the moth.
What else?
Bees threatened by Argentine.
Nance is another problem. They've been around.
Quite noticeable around the pretty much the whole coastline of New Zealand, and they're a whack with the balance of things here too, and they got the potential to go into a carnooka tree and get behind a big weather for example, and just eat it alive. We've seen an area firsthand where you know, a couple of kill meters that way and a couple of kilometers that way, a couple of kill meters that way, where the Argentine ance are just everywhere. It doesn't matter what you pick up
that they're there. The Department and Conservation aware of the problem, but how to deal with it is a big one. We're really conscious conscious of when we move gear from those sites that we don't take the ants with us to another site. That those particular sites we have our bees up on pallets, on legs and motes of water or grease on rides of steel, so the ants can't get up and attack the bees because they will.
Once again, they're no different to the wasp or these these.
Adocrits, these hornets, where you know, they get off on them the protein and the carbohydrates from the honey.
So the full rob mode. The bees are freaking out.
Yeah, they pick on the weak highs first and then as they go through those week hives they get stronger and then it gives them the power the force to get into the more stronger heights and take the email as well.
Bumblebees have particularly large and heavy bodies, and flight for them can be a real effort. That's particularly so in spring when the mornings are cold and queen bumblebees are just emerging from their winter sleep. It's only a few degrees above freezing, but a queen needs to get started early to look for food.
How well do you think that the biosecurity system supports local beekeepers in managing those invasive species.
We've had a f B American foul brood in the country for a long time and that's one of the one of the things that are hot on and they've got quite a good system where they've got a digital system.
As a beekeeper or anybody that's got bees, it's by law you have to report if you.
Do get a f B.
It's like a bacterium that gets into the hives and it affects the brood, and by law you've got to report it. Basically, dig a hole and put the box and b's in the hole and burn them.
And it's as simple as that. It's quite a good system, so they're on board there.
They've got quite good resources and tracking for all that sort of thing. They notify the beekeepers within a five k radius if it's reported, so that that particular thing's really good. As far as the variamites that have come into the country. There's another example of something coming in. There's been a burial pain in the butt that came in two thousand, in twenty two, and we're dealing with it.
It's very expensive to deal.
With How much does it cost to deal with well, I can imagine like a fairly established size company running maybe two or three thousand hives.
You know, they've been looking at probably about twenty.
Thousand dollars every six months and treatments to deal with it. So the pharmaceutical companies that are providing these goods for it, they're rubbing their hands together, but they are poor or beekeepers. They've really you know, they can't manage as many hives as what they used to do. As a matter of fact,
we've actually backed off. We've backed off. We're in a small company and it's just my wife and I. My son helps us, and we've downsized just so we can manage our bees a bit better and keep them healthy.
Because things can quickly easily get out of control. For example, if you have a really good honey flow like we've had in the last couple of years, be populations pick up from about five to ten thousand bees up to about forty even sixty thousand bees per hive, and then say January, you'll take the honey off and then the bee population comes down, but the mic population is still there. It's increased with population with those bee populations, and they just smash the bees hard in autumn.
They're a real problem, Yeah, real problem.
Is there anything that can be done about them, like to eradicate them completely or do you just have to live with the consequences of having them there now?
Yeah, that's pretty much it, I think.
And you know, like we've got a lot of young enthusiastic guys coming through and we're kind of hoping how the country's working on it as well, New Zealand and Australia.
Australia has just got it.
We're getting mailed by it quite hard because we have big populations of bees on our honey flows.
Yeah.
In other countries where it's a bit more cool up in Europe, they have a brewd break the bees. The queens stop laying so they don't get They don't get them as bad as what we do. There are I think there are different species of my and maybe even
different strains they may. My prediction is they probably more than likely sort of like hot fybridiz, they may you know, evolve stronger, you know, sort of yeah, that way there, because we've got other problems coming up in the future, possibly where they become resistance to some of the organic or generic treatments that we're thrown at them, you know, eg, Like the ones that we get from the pharmaceuticals to to bring the light. Might levels right down in autumn
when there's no honey on there. That's when you treat them, and you might levels right down, and then they'll they'll come slightly come back up again the next season.
With you know, the bee population coming up.
One of the problems we faces, like the last couple of seasons have been really swarm seasons.
So if you haven't got control of the a breeze, they'll swarm.
I mean that's a great thing, but if a bee colony goes into a tree you haven't got to bee keeper caring for it, they'll die out over late autumn winter and then we'll treat our bees and they'll be all all good. But then they'll go and rob the honey off the bese and the trees that have or cows, sheep walls, et cetera that are wild that have gone feral, and bring the mites back, and you'll have reinfestation of these mites. So we've got mites, we've got Argentine hands,
we've got German wasp and common moss. We do not need the Asian hornets, yellow leg torn No, it.
Sounds like you're dealing with a whole bunch of stuff already. So I can imagine why you guys are worried. What worries you most about the future of beekeeping in New Zealand, Well that.
In particular, Like I know the beekeepers and they're really enthusiastic, really innovaded, highly motivated, educated, and they put they've got everything on the line. There's already big companies going bust at the moment because you know, with the on running costs and honey's come down in price a bit, they are struggling. They've got everything on the line. So it's going to make it it's going to make it even more tricky. They've got something else to deal with like
this creature. So we've only got a short window of opportunity to get it, and that's pretty much between now and winter. So MPI Department's conservation, they're pretty much got to throw everything at it, even to the point probably where some ideas, you know, like I like the idea where they're putting pamphlets out in the Glenfield area where it's been found, educating people. People in the Glenfield area need to google this creature, become familiar with it.
You know, it's easy to do.
It's pretty distinctive in its appearances. They need to get to get on board with that and go out there looking for it. The government departments could possibly look at getting private contractors, and there are contractors out there that eradicate rates and weeds and stuff like that.
I'm sure people on the ground you know.
This far.
I gotta say something. You're like jazz. You're talking to humans.
You're flying outside behind very deep beats there.
So you see soda spilled on a sidewalk and you don't drink it.
Is a little bee. He's not bothering anybody.
Get out of here, your creep discovering a big secret.
How did this get here?
Is this honeyberry just is stealing cute bee?
Golden blossom? Rayly Yoda private select.
It does seem like quite a slippery slope if it does take hold. Can you remember when I suppose the first couple of moths were found, or the first couple of those ants were found, how quickly did they take hold?
Well they did with a moth, I can.
I can quite clearly remember the the orion circling Auckland's wise And I don't know what they were spraying around in the skies. I don't know if that's a street that we need to go up. That's that's that'd be a major concern, especially spraying over a populated area. I'm sure they'll get a lot of flak from that. That's a big, big one. That's where he needs a lot of thought.
But suit me.
People on the ground doing surveillance, traps, lots of traps they can use out there to try and catch it, and basically looking looking on northern slopes, warm gullies around that area. If it makes its way out of that area into the bush, she's pretty much over read rover. We won't get it. Yeah, if it's anything like the German boss.
How can everyday ordinary New Zealanders try and help not only looking out for this was, but for bees in general. I mean I've seen videos of people sprinkling wildflowers in their in their gardens or something. I mean, does that stuff actually work?
I think so?
Yeah, great, that'd be great year Like borage and herbs, they could look at look it up fruit trees in the back yard. They'll better prosper from the pollination as well. You know, the pollinations off the scale. If you've got bees around, maybe it's being mindful when they're using herbicides and then sector sides if they decide to use them and use them spearingly. If you can pull out a weed, pull it out, don't need to spray it. Thistles, for example, you don't need to spray this was. We used to
just grub them with a grub. It's just as quick, good workout. You don't need to go to the gym if you're doing that sort of stuff. Yeah, there's lots of things that that can be done to help the bees. There's legislation that was brought out years ago that you can personally be personally liable if you spray plants that are in flour when the bleak, when the honey flowers on and the bee populations are high, so each like a farm or something like that, spray and gorse when
and fully in flour. Those sorts of things really need to be done at the right in the right season, at the right time. But yeah, there is legislation that they can actually be liable for all costs.
The damage is done to an aprick.
For example, if a young person came up to you tomorrow and said, I want a career in beekeeping. It's my lifelong dream, what would you tell them. Would you say pack it in, go to UNI and learn something else, or would you say stick with it.
Yeah, No, they really.
Need to, you know, someone who's young, an enthusiastic and once to get into beekeeping.
Yeah, go for it. Yeah, we definitely need the more people come in.
And there's been a decline and beekeepers and beg companies have been you know, well with ongoing costs and you know, these problems that we're having worth.
Mines for example, especially dropping honey prices.
There's definitely been in decline and bee companies have been dropping left, right and center. There was an increase in the from about twenty nineteen.
It was a big.
Increase because it was a bit of a gold rush. Honey prices were good. A lot of people jumped on board. But yeah, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. It's a great industry to be in, even starting off. Being a hobbyist is the way to go, you know, and get the feel of it. Get some knowledge behind you before you jump in with both feet. You've got less to lose.
That way, you know. Lots of lot can go wrong.
When you're a beekeeper if you haven't got control, that's for sure.
Thanks for joining us, Pete no worries.
Hopefully that's helpful information.
That's it for this episode of The Front Page. You can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage at nsidherld dot co dot nz. The Front Page is produced by Jane Ye and Richard Martin, who was also our editor. I'm Chelsea Daniels. Subscribe to The Front Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts, and tune in on Monday for another look behind the headlines.