Beekeeping in New Zealand

Beekeeping in New Zealand is reported to have commenced in 1839 with the importing of two skep hives by Mary Bumby, a missionary.

[2] The Māori called them “the white man’s fly.”[3] Commercial beekeeping began in 1878 soon after the introduction of the Langstroth hive.

Beekeepers provide pollination services to horticulturists, which used to generate more income than the products of bee culture.

[8] The Green Party are calling for a phase out of pesticides that are toxic to bees as is happening in the European Union.

[12] This suspicion was not confirmed, but high losses with an aetiology matching CCD could be observed in parts of the North Island in 2015,[13] reigniting these fears.

[17] In the 1990s suspected cases of European foulbrood were found and a wider survey of hives was carried out but the samples proved to be negative.