Bee Aware Month begins

There’s a buzz in the air this September as Bee Aware Month begins

Bee lovers will be buzzing this September during Bee Aware Month 2016 with the whole month dedicated to the honey bee.

Apiculture New Zealand (formerly the National Beekeepers Association) will continue to run the highly successful campaign designed to make New Zealanders think about the honey bee and its critically important role in our biodiversity and economy.

NZ’s bee populations contribute about $5 billion to our economy annually and they support about one-third of everything we eat. NZ’s manuka honey is some of the highest valued honey in the world.

Shifting the focus to honey – Show me the Honey!

Apiculture New Zealand CEO Daniel Paul says the numbers of beekeepers and hives, particularly in the hobbyist/non-commercial sector have been increasing over the past couple of years.

The focus of this year’s campaign will be honey – it’s on our toast, in the supermarkets, in our beauty products and even has medicinal properties. Every Kiwi has a use for honey and the honey bee (even if they don’t realise it).

Through the theme Show me the Honey!, we plan to demonstrate the increasing importance of honey – and therefore bees – to New Zealanders, Mr Paul says.

“It will be an opportunity to further position New Zealand honey as a value-added product that sits alongside Kiwifruit and our wine industry, among others, as lucrative export earners on the world stage.”

Mr Paul says this theme allows for several topics to be explored. For example, encouraging honey and honey product sales, highlighting the health benefits and multiple uses for honey, educating the public about the different kinds of honey produced in New Zealand, and their different tastes etc, and showcasing the significant economic export value and potential within the industry.

What’s the buzz?

ApiNZ, with the help of sponsors, will be running a number of activities and competitions during BAM, including last year’s very successful Council Bee-Friendly Garden Challenge. This year, over 1000 schools will receive bee-friendly wildflower seeds to plant, thanks to Bayer.

A list of ApiNZ activities can be found here: http://apinz.org.nz/2016/08/whats-happening-throughout-bee-aware-month/

For background information on BAM and how you can help bees from home, click here: http://apinz.org.nz/2016/08/bee-aware-month-background/

Anyone interested in BAM will be able to get involved and keep up-to-date with what’s happening via the Bee Aware Month Facebook pagehttps://www.facebook.com/Bee-Aware-Month-155550234605563/

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