Bees
Comvita gains from joint venture news
Shares in honey and health food producer Comvita rose strongly yesterday after it announced a near $60 million joint venture with its Chinese distributor. Audio
Using bumblebees as pollinators
Plant and Food Research scientist Dr David Pattemore is investigating the living habits of bumble bees so they can be used to help honey bees pollinate commercial horticultural crops. Audio
Police, beekeepers in anti-theft drive
New Zealand police have officially joined ranks with beekeepers to tackle beehive crime, as the soaring price of manuka honey leads to more thefts.
A Sweet Job
In a day's work, Maureen Conquer can swallow almost 100 teaspoons of honey. She was recently chief judge at the National Honey Show. Audio, Gallery
Counting the cost of the honeybee decline
Honeybees are vital pollinators, and their numbers have been dwindling due to the varroa mite and colony collapse disorder. Now New Zealand scientists have attempted to quantify just how much this is… Audio
Big reward offered as bee colonies stolen
A Manuka honey company is offering a $20,000 reward for information on stolen bee colonies.
Sticky Fingers
There's a gold rush in the honey industry. Returns for manuka honey have skyrocketed and bees are in hot demand. Hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of beehives and other beekeeping equipment is… Audio
Police lack sting on hive crime, beekeeper says
A Northland beekeeper who says he had hundreds of hives poisoned and others stolen has accused police of failing to take action.
Pesticide bad news for bee learning and memory
Chemists and zoologists have teamed up to investigate the impact of the pesticide chlorpyrifos on bee learning and memory Audio
Electric bumblebees
Bumblebees can sense electric fields generated by flowers, and are using these electrical signals as a navigational aid to distinguish between different flowers as they buzz around gathering pollen… Audio
Using honey bees to uncover the mysteries of anaesthesia-induced jetlag
New research is being presented today on how to avoid jet lag like symptoms for patients who've been under anaesthetic. The researchers used honey bees to uncover some of the mystery of… Audio
'Manuka Madness' - the lust for liquid gold
A long-time Northland beekeeper suspects hundreds of his hives have been deliberately poisoned because of 'manuka madness' -- a turf war over lucrative manuka honey. Audio
Manuka 'madness' drove hive poisoning - beekeeper
A Northland beekeeper says 400 of his hives were deliberately poisoned because of fierce competition driving the manuka honey industry to 'madness'.
NZ needs to refocus on pollination - beekeepers
High honey prices are pulling more people away from pollinating orchards and crops, which could cost the agricultural industry millions of dollars, beekeepers say.
Honeybee health hit by high hive levels
The National Beekeepers Association is warning that a surge of newcomers to the industry is resulting in too many hives placed too close together.
More pesticides research needed - bee scientist
Research showing a pesticide called chlorpyrifos could threaten honeybees is unsurprising and shows a need for wider research, a honeybee scientists says.
Amelia Dunbar and Emma Newborn: bitches and woolsheds
Creators of the hit touring show The Bitches' Box, who are acting as dogs again in the new show, Sons of a Bitch, which tours to 19 woolsheds throughout the South Island in April, alongside… Audio
Sleepy Bees - Elodie Urlacher
Could even very small doses of a common pesticide be harming honeybees? New research from University of Otago scientists shows bees suffer learning and memory problems after being exposed to very… Audio
Deadly bee disease established in NZ
A deadly bee disease blamed for wiping out hives around the world is already established on two properties in New Zealand.
Country Life Summer Edition Saturday, January 16, 2016
A selection of some of the best Country Life stories from 2015. In this episode: Sovrano Limoncello, A Photographer Like Alice and Golden Memories Audio