Te Waka Kai Ora expands Hua Parakore into Beekeeping

Te Waka Kai Ora expands Hua Parakore into Beekeeping Sector

For immediate release: 07/06/12

The sun came out for the celebration of Mills Farm receiving the Hua Parakore tohu today at Peria in Te Tai Tokerau. The hui formed part of a Te Waka Kai Ora wananga series aimed to launch the three Sector Pilot Resources, and to honour the growers in these sectors who have attained the Hua Parakore status and whose products can now wear the tohu (label).

The resources focus around three growing sectors of high significance and potential for Māori to become involved in using Hua Parakore practices and values. The resources focus on Kairaupi (Beekeeping), Ahuwhenua (Pastoral Farming) and Ahumoana (Aquaculture). Hua Parakore, meaning ‘Pure Product’, is a verification and validation system for growing and producing healthy kai, free from all additives and inputs. Growers who can demonstrate their production and tikanga (values and practices) are GE, nano, pesticide and chemical free, and who contribute to wider community involvement and development, can apply to carry the Hua Parakore tohu. Te Waka Kai Ora is the kaitiaki of the tohu, and is established to coordinate and to assist regional groups to encourage Hua Parakore practices in their rohe (regions).

Held at their Kauhanga marae in Peria, Warren Mills (Ngāti Kahu) and Marina Strioukova (Russia) warmly welcomed their guests and spent the day sharing with us a presentation and practical demonstration of their practices and principles which drive their successful operation.

Both Warren and Marina have inherited a history of practice and a body of knowledge around beekpeeing from their ancestors. The merging of their different but compatible tikanga was especially unique about the story of Mills Farm. Marina brings with her from Russia a strong history of beekeeping, and she maintains her customs through her own ancient Russian karakia, and by utilising knowledge passed on from her forebears. This is woven with tikanga Māori, and the knowledge and practices passed on from Warren’s tūpuna. Throughout their korero they explained how these woven worldviews have enabled them to operate a truly Hua Parakore beekeeping operation.

They raise a mixture of Italian bees (which are the most popular) with the local wild black bees which tend to be slightly more aggressive but are overall more stable for diseases. Their kaitiakitanga of their Hua Parakore bees and the whenua reward them with a wide range of resources including manuka honey, bee venom, bee bread, beeswax, pollen and propolis, which are also used to make a range of healthcare products and rongoa including muscle rubs, face masks and lip balms.

Their intimate knowledge of the bees and their needs came through strongly throughout the presentation. Marina explains that “Bees are ecological indicators. When they start dying and going away, something serious is wrong”. She adds that Hua Parakore beekeepers need to get together to figure out how we can make the world safer for our bees. This includes setting industry guidelines for the spacing ad density of hives which can place a burden on the environment and other native species that depend on the pollen and nectar sources.

While they have been certified organic since 2003, they believe that Hua Parakore is important as it “incorporates spiritual and moral principles that we support”. The next wananga will be held at the Tipene whanau farm at Motatau.

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