This year’s World Bee Day message was a call to action for sustainable practices that support bees, improve food security, and protect biodiversity in the face of mounting climate pressures.
New Zealand has a flourishing population of honey bees cared for by 8190 registered beekeepers who manage 520,000 hives across the country. At this time of year, with the hard work of producing honey done, honey bees are focused on storing up food to keep their hives fed and healthy through the winter.
While some countries have been struggling with dramatic colony losses over winter, colony loss rates in New Zealand over the cold winter months have been declining.
Results from the New Zealand Colony Loss Survey 2024 show that loss rates caused by varroa mites, the number one threat to bees over winter for the previous three years, fell to 4.6% during winter 2024, compared to 6.4% during winter 2023. This continues a general downward trajectory since the 2021–2022 surveys.
“The story of the 2024 NZ Colony Loss Survey is about varroa. And it’s a good story because losses to varroa showed a national decline for the first time since we started systematically measuring them,” survey director Pike Stahlmann-Brown says.
Stahlmann-Brown says beekeepers are doing more monitoring for varroa, and this is useful in determining when and how to treat the pest.
New Zealand beekeepers work hard to support their hard-working bees, and Kiwis can help local bee populations by planting some foraging favourites to help bees stock up on food for winter.
Good things to plant for bees now include herbs such as lavender, salvia, rosemary and oregano, and shrubs such as michelia yunnanensis and the native koromiko. Those with larger properties might like to consider yellow gum trees, lacebark or puriri.
For more on how to help bees see the Apiculture NZ website: https://apinz.org.nz/how-can-i-help-bees/
Bee-friendly kitchen and herb plants
Herbaceous
- Basil (Ocimum basilicum)
- Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)
- Cucumber, melon (Cucumis spp.)
- Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea)
- Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis)
- Sage (Salvia officinalis)
- Squash, pumpkin (Cucurbita spp.)
- Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
- Sweetcorn (Zea mays)
Trees, shrubs and climbers
- Apple (Malus spp.)
- Bay laurel (Laurus nobilis)
- Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa)
- Lavender (Lavandula spp.)
- Lemon, orange, grapefruit (Citrus spp.)
- Pear (Pyrus spp.)
- Plum, peach (Prunus spp.)
- Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Be sure to select cultivars that attract bees:
- Select “single” flowers not “doubles” or “triples”
- Choose simple traditional flowers not highly modified flowers
- Garden catalogues often mark which cultivars attract bees
Bee-friendly ornamental flowers & plants
Herbaceous
- Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera)
- Cornflower (Centaurea spp.)
- Hollyhock (Alcea spp.)
- Michaelmas daisy (Aster novae-angliae)
- Penstemon (Penstemon spp.)
- Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia)
- Salvia (Salvia spp.)
- Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima)
- Zinnia (Zinnia spp.)
Trees, shrubs and climbers
- Australian gum (Eucalyptus spp.), wattles (Acacia spp.) and Banksia (Banksia spp.)
- Bottlebrush (Callistemon spp.)
- Cabbage tree (Cordyline australis) *
- Camellia (Camellia spp. – single flowers only)
- Harakeke, NZ Flax (Phormium tenax/cookianum) *
- Koromiko (Hebe stricta/salicifolia) *
- Maple (Acer spp.)
- Michelia (Michelia spp.)
- NZ jasmine (Parsonsia heterophylla) *
- NZ Lacebark (Hoheria populnea/sexstylosa/angustifolia) *
- Oak (Quercus spp.)
- Pohutukawa/Rata (Metrosideros spp.) *
- Putaputaweta (Carpodetus serratus) *
- Rengarenga (Arthropodium cirratum) *
- Rewarewa (Knightia excelsa) *
- Tarata, kohuhu, karo (Pittosporum spp.) *
- Three/Five finger (Pseudopanax colensoi/arboreum) *
- Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
- Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis)
*indicates NZ native plant species; spp. = species
ENDS.