Richard Evatt, Organic BeeKeeper: Can Organic Bees Survive Beyond Climate Change, Chemicals & Industrial Farming?

Knowing the matriarch, the queen bee is the sexual organ of the hive - it is she who lays the foundation for the whole colony - but there are many challenges in a rapidly changing world of the varroa mite and colony collapse.  That commercial operations use insecticides to control the varroa disease are likely to cause problems because queens do not survive as long today as in pre-varroa times.

Today, nearly every element within the biosphere,is under pressure and yet honey, is still seen as an elixir especially recently, as NZ manuka honey becomes a premium for its antibacterial qualities especially with the increase of dis-ease and other ailments - so how is it possible to be a pure honey advocate and producer in our world today?

Nine years ago Richard took time off working as an interior designer to take care of his kids instead - and became a hobby bee keeper that has grown into a robust little organic business.

Starting from 2 hives to 4 to 8 now he has 120 hives and a thriving little business.  Living on Waiheke Island 7 kilometres off the NZ coast  - there are many larger (land) sections with numerous fruit trees, plums, apples and citrus and quite well established too -  as well as differing flower gardens including bottle brush, so there is a lot of feed for bees - plus manuka trees - as there has been more reforestation on the island. It was a little over a hundred years ago the island was basically denuded as they used the wood for charcoal in Auckland 17 kilometres by boat across from Waiheke.  Native kanuka is now becoming predominant  - though there are cabbage trees and flax as well.  With very little agricultural and horticultural pressures there are more vineyards, with most of them running organic systems. Other than the use of a little fungicide, which Richard acknowledged is not particularly good for bees, they are not using insecticides that directly affect bees.

Glyphosate is still a challenge though most of the vineyards will not use it and there is not much of it used on Waiheke Island, in a commercial sense.

Bee’s being a matriarchal society the Queen may be the leader, but is actually the egg layer and genetic carrier for the hive as the bees seem to ‘just know' what they need to do - as in anarchy - being a very complex society - no real hierarchy  - so the workers can manipulate the Queen as to what they want or ‘think' needs to be done and the Queen can do the same as well.  He says it is such a complex society - the more you learn - the more you realise you have yet to learn.

Bees are quite complex - that they can ‘think’ for themselves even when they are connected to a hive mind. That the Bee is an esoteric symbol - especially from ancient Egypt, where they were readily acknowledged.

Nectar for the bees is their carbohydrate and for the flower that is the payment to the bee - for the bee being the sexual organ of the flower.

Honey that is made from nectar when capped off can be stored indefinitely.

Bee researchers overseas are looking at the individual honey properties from differing flowers, some have found anti inflammatory properties which is good for people in their older age.

The strain of varroa mite found in New Zealand in April 2000 was the worst strain of this pest - called Varroa Destructor and is here in NZ to stay. It easily infests hives by jumping from bee to bee within the hive or from flower to bee as bees forage for their food. Prior to that NZ was essentially an organic honey paradise.

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