- Kahlil Gibran

As a family owned company, we have a strong desire to ensure that everyone who works with us, for us, or provides us with our incredible honey (that's our bees!) is wholly nurtured and given everything they need to thrive.

We work closely with our land partners to ensure relationships are fair and ethical. Our team regularly visits the people we work with who own the land, and the sites themselves to check in, have a cuppa, and ensure that they have everything they need.

The role of our bees is a huge one. Without bees, we would have no pollination. Pollination is the carrying of pollen between plants of different genders to fertilize them, or between different parts of the same plant, which can help the plant to reproduce. If the plants cannot reproduce, they won’t survive. Some plants require vibration to release pollen, which bees help with. This is called ‘buzz pollination’.

As the landmark 2019 report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) recognizes, “Sacred passages about bees in all the worlds’ major religions highlight their significance to human societies over millennia.”

Along with 40 years of in-field observation, refining and tweaking, Paul did an incredible amount of research to find out what would provide his bees with the very best in nutrition. His experience and knowledge over his lifetime of beekeeping has lead to a recipe that includes, among many other things, brewers yeast, flax seed oil and a number of amino acids. Paul’s bee patties are also fermented to a certain level, to allow the ingredients to form probiotics, which keep our bees healthy, and also makes it easier for our bees to digest.

HOW OFTEN TO THE BEES GET FED?

Paul’s bee patties are made onsite at our harvesting plant in New Zealand, and taken out by the land team to give to any hives that are looking low in pollen. When they check the hives, they look to see how many pollen cells the hives have (as these are the bees food and energy source), as well as watching the bees as they fly into the hive, to see how much pollen is captured on their legs from nearby flowers.

WHAT DOES A BEE PATTY LOOK LIKE?

Think… Welsh cakes without the raisins! Little squished patties of nutritional goodness that our bees happily devour and thank us by creating the very best, golden raw manuka honey that you will ever taste.

Our beehives are regularly checked and maintained by our land team. When they check the hives, their main priority is to ensure the bees are healthy, that there are no diseases within the hives and that they have the food supply they need, as well as ensuring that the hive structures themselves are maintained and looked after.

To ensure the bees are as healthy and as happy as possible, our land team checks for any potential diseases. New Zealand has laws around ensuring that any known bee diseases are managed, for the safety and comfort of the entire New Zealand Bee population. Thankfully, due to New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industries being so strict on anything entering our country, we have a relatively low number of diseases that can pose a threat to our bees compared to most other countries. American Foulbrood and Varroa Mites are two of the most common diseases that can sadly affect beehives in New Zealand. Any diseases that a hive has can be so easily spread, thanks to the 5 kilometer radius that a bee can fly, meaning many bees cross paths and land on the same plants. This is why our team regularly checks our hives for bee health.

Many people are unsure as to why we use a smoker when checking our bees. As you can imagine, checking the hives for food sources, disease and colony health is hugely important for the welfare of the bees. The smoker is used to calm the bees when the beehive is opened.  It doesn’t harm the bees at all, it simply masks the pheromone that alerts them to danger. The beekeeper is not their enemy so we gently smoke the hive as we don’t want them to attack (as this will bring them to release their sting, which in turn ends their life). Our beekeepers also have to be gentle in the handling of a hive as it is not in their best interest to stir up the hive for obvious reasons.

Anything we can do to keep our bees happy and healthy, we go above and beyond to put into practise. Paul and Sheryl have a genuine love and huge respect for bees, as providers of a naturally healing food source, of sustenance to their family, and of life to all things on earth! (no pressure).