Honey bees

Bees are known to be keystone pollinators. This means they are paramount to the functioning of ecosystems, and if they disappear, the effect is unpredictable and could likely lead to extinction cascades and ongoing impact.

We have around one million honeybee colonies in New Zealand, more than ever before. As an agricultural nation, we need a huge number of flowers to be pollinated, from those of fruit and vegetables that will be exported round the globe, to clover in vast pastures of dairy farms. Our honey industry is also booming and many more individuals are taking up beekeeping as a hobby.

We need to make sure the available pool of flowers grows with the number of bees, as a single honeybee colony needs to consume the pollen and nectar from around 1 billion flowers each year. By providing plenty of flowers, we ensure that all of our pollinators are fed – not just honey bees that are swelling in numbers.