February 2017 – New Zealand BeeKeeper

February 2017 – New Zealand BeeKeeper

Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by earthquakes and poor weather

FEBRUARY 2017 | VOLUME 25 No. 1

Business as unusual Natasha Thyne GWA research under way Barry Foster

Five finger for spring build-up Linda Newstrom-Lloyd and Angus McPherson Myrtle rust workshop Karin Kos and Barry Foster Active bee culture Mana Cracknell and Michele Andersen

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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, FEBRUARY 2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome to 2017

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Star performers part 3: five finger for early spring build-up Supersedure—an autumn phenomenon: How common is it? 26 Tutin contamination hits early: be vigilant 31 Letter to the editor 31 From the colonies 33 Persevere, prepare and protect 37 23

ApiNZ welcomes Bruce Wills as independent chair

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Business as unusual

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Giant willow aphid research kicks off

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Myrtle rust: being prepared

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Wasp biocontrol update

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Active bee culture

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Apiculture health and safety programme formed

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Front cover: “We’ll put it right.” Midlands Apiaries managing director Duncan Storrier supplied this photo of beekeepers working to restore order to an apiary affected by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake centred near Kaikoura on 14 November 2016. Story on page 6.

EDITORIAL/PUBLICATION (excluding advertising): Nancy Fithian 8A Awa Road, Miramar, Wellington 6022 Mobile: 027 238 2915 Fax: 04 380 7197 Email: [email protected] ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: Certa Solutions, PO Box 2494, Dunedin 9044. Phone: 0800 404 515 Email: [email protected] PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE: Frank Lindsay 26 Cunliffe Street, Johnsonville, Email: [email protected] DEADLINES FOR ADVERTISING AND ARTICLES: Due on the 6th of the month prior to publication. All articles/letters/photos to be with the Editor via fax, email or post to Nancy Fithian (see details above). Articles published in The New Zealand BeeKeeper are subject to scrutiny by the Apiculture New Zealand Management Team. The content of articles does not Wellington 6037 Ph: 04 478 3367

The New Zealand BeeKeeper is the official journal of Apiculture New Zealand (Inc.). ISSN 0110-6325 Printed by Certa Solutions, PO Box 2494, Dunedin 9013, New Zealand ApiNZ website: www.apinz.org.nz

necessarily reflect the views of Apiculture New Zealand. © The New Zealand BeeKeeper is copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the Publisher, Apiculture New Zealand (Inc.). CONTACTS TO THE NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPING INDUSTRY: Rex Baynes, AFB PMP Manager PO Box 44282, Lower Hutt 5040 Email: [email protected] Ph: 04 566 0773 American Foulbrood Management Plan www.afb.org.nz

MANAGEMENT TEAM: Chief Executive Officer Karin Kos Email: [email protected] Secretary Natasha Thyne Email: [email protected] Accounts and Subscriptions Pauline Downie Email: [email protected] PO Box 25207, Featherston Street,

AsureQuality Limited Phone: 0508 00 11 22 www.asurequality.com EXOTIC DISEASE AND PEST EMERGENCY HOTLINE 0800 80 99 66 www.biosecurity.govt.nz

Wellington 6146 Ph: 04 471 6254 APICULTURE NZ BOARD REPRESENTATIVES: Dennis Crowley

Barry Foster Stuart Fraser Sean Goodwin John Hartnell Ricki Leahy

Pollinator Incident Reporting Form: http://www.epa.govt.nz/Publications/ Pollinator_incident_reporting_form_2014. docx

Peter Luxton Russell Marsh Paul Martin Bruce Wills (Chair)

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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, FEBRUARY 2017

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT

WELCOME TO 2017

Karin Kos, ApiNZ Chief Executive

Welcome to 2017. Despite a challenging start, our long-term future is strong.

Over the last few years we’ve seen our industry experience significant growth, as evidenced in MPI’s latest Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries report (MPI, 2016). The report shows our honey export revenue more than doubled from 2013 to 2016 to reach $315 million in 2016. While there’s been a fall-off in export sales in the last quarter and a forecasted small fall in revenue for the 2017 year, overall, our long-term future looks strong, with export revenue forecast to reach around $460 million in 2020. I appreciate that is small comfort to our industry as we go through an incredibly challenging season, but it’s important we keep a long-term perspective. Despite the poor season we are facing this year, we have a strong story to tell around New Zealand honey and the apiculture industry. That’s one where our honey is internationally recognised and trusted for its great taste and qualities, it attracts premium pricing, and where our honey bees are recognised as the lifeblood of New Zealand’s primary and horticultural sectors. The economic value of pollination for the horticulture and arable sectors alone is estimated to be around $4.5 to $5 billion a year. But statistics are one thing; it’s how we as an industry support sustainable growth to get the best of the opportunities and deal with the challenges that inevitably come with growth, like hive theft and territorial issues. It’s also how we individually and collectively best represent our industry, telling our story and fronting it positively, and dealing with issues when they do arise. And it’s how we work constructively with our stakeholders and Government to make sure our views are heard and acted on. All good reasons for why it’s never been more important to have a unified and strong peak industry body, representing all sectors and stakeholders.

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APINZ WELCOMES BRUCE WILLS AS INDEPENDENT CHAIR APICULTURE NEW ZEALAND BOARD Apiculture New Zealand Management Team

It’s never been more important to have a unified and strong peak industry body, representing all sectors and stakeholders.

How we are adding value Apiculture New Zealand has a clear mandate to add value to our industry and make it stronger as outlined in our Pledge Card. This sets out our commitment to protect our industry and bee health, represent and advocate on relevant issues, influence and position our industry as a vital primary sector in our own right, and inform to ensure our bee products are acknowledged for their authenticity and integrity. That’s a big undertaking, and so to support those key themes we have set up five industry focus groups on research, biosecurity, standards and regulation, education, and Māori engagement. The Standards, Compliance and Regulatory group is already up and running. The remaining focus groups and members are close to being finalised. All will play their role in developing the policy direction and practical work plans to support our industry. A key role for me as Chief Executive will be making sure the work of these groups is openly shared with members and delivers tangible results. So looking to 2017, I see an industry that has its foundations in place and is poised to take the next step in consolidating its united position and profile, and is continuing to attract new members. There is a huge amount of work ahead as part of that, but I’m up for the challenge with the support of the Apiculture New Zealand Board and our members. I look forward to working with you all this year and to seeing our industry continue to deliver value and grow in a sustainable way.

Bruce Wills has been appointed to the position of independent Chair for Apiculture New Zealand.

Mr Wills has been the acting Chair of the Apiculture New Zealand Board since its inception in June and will now take up the role in a permanent position. Prior to this he was the independent chair of the Joint Executive Councils of the National Beekeepers Association and Federated Farmers Bee Industry Group. “The future is bright for the New Zealand bee and honey industry and I look forward to having an ongoing role in growing that future; it’s an exciting time to be involved in such an important sector,” says Mr Wills. Mr Wills was appointed following an extensive recruitment process and demonstrated proven and experienced governance skills, as well as respected linkages across government and the wider primary sector. Mr Wills has shown tremendous commitment to ApiNZ and his ability to demonstrate his independence has been appreciated by the board. Already in his role as chair he helped to recruit a new full-time chief executive for the organisation. Mr Wills has a long and varied background in the primary sector. As well as his new role, Mr Wills sits on two National Science Challenge Boards and is a director of Horticulture NZ, QEII National Trust and Ravensdown. He chairs the NZ Poplar & Willow Research Trust and MPI’s Deer Primary Growth Partnership. He is an experienced company director and a past representative of New Zealand and international farming and trade forums. He is a past Federated Farmers president and currently farms in the Hawke’s Bay. He has been appointed for a three-year term from November 2016.

Source Ministry for Primary Industries. (2016, December). Situation and outlook for primary industries. Retrieved January 11, 2017, from https://www.mpi.govt.nz/about-mpi/corporate-publications/

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Natasha Thyne, Apiculture New Zealand Management Team BUSINESS AS UNUSUAL BUSINESS

Three months on from the 7.8-magnitude Kaikoura earthquake on 14 November 2016, we report on its ongoing effect on the apiculture industry.

Damaged beehives, bee losses, and difficulty accessing isolated sites are just some of the challenges Upper South Island beekeepers have faced since the November 2016 earthquake. However, the beekeeping community has rallied together to help each other out after the traumatic event. Duncan Storrier from Midlands Apiaries said the nature of the slips in the area meant beekeepers could not reach their sites in Kaikoura and in Clarence, north of Kaikoura. Midlands reached out to their honey suppliers in the worst affected areas. They were able to confirm the people were personally unharmed but had suffered damage to their beekeeping equipment and facilities. A plan was hatched to take a few beekeepers in the Midlands helicopter to the most isolated sites. But there was more to the mission than just checking hives. “Once we’d landed in Kaikoura, we unloaded the pods and luggage compartment of all the nappies and infant formula that we had carried up for the local Plunket.”

Help arrives to an apiary at the top of the Clarence River.

Midlands’ beekeepers were deployed to Waiau to assist some of its other suppliers with road access to stand up their hives. “An interesting change for our team who are used to working on the flat Canterbury Plains,” Mr Storrier said. Daniel Milne of Wild Rose Apiaries was unable to access two-thirds of his sites because of road closures. He was one of the beekeepers taken up in the helicopter. Around 40 per cent of his hives had been tipped over. “Only a handful of hives actually died; however, lots lost strength or the queens were squashed.” Directly after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, Mr Milne, who lives in Kaikoura, said his main priority was making sure he and his family were safe. It wasn’t until the next morning his focus went to his hives, most importantly tending to those in the town and around houses. He said it took around seven days to get all the hives stood back up. After two weeks, it was back to daily beekeeping jobs.

From there, the group visited as many of the most isolated sites as they could. “The power of Mother Nature is staggering. We had whole pallets of four hives tipped over and boxes many metres from the hives. There was just no real pattern to it; you’d see total destruction, then fly over the next spot that had no damage.”

Approaching Kaikoura from the north on the way home. Photos this page: Duncan Storrier.

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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, FEBRUARY 2017

“Everything is taking so much longer because of the roads. We couldn’t take vehicles certain places and it now takes up to 10 or 11 hours to drive to certain sites, which before would have taken half an hour.” He anticipated it would take up to 12 months before everything would be back to normal. “But we are resourceful people and we will do what we have to do to carry on with business. Unfortunately, it is the weather which is now being more disruptive than anything.” He said fellow beekeepers had been a major help during this time. Without even asking, there were offers of assistance and a generous gesture from Ecrotek to replace broken frames. Bruce McCusker of Clarence River Harvest Limited said all the beekeepers in the area had come together during the crisis. “It has been quite traumatic and has affected a lot of people. But through it all there has been team work and support from the different companies, some of whom are usually in competition.”

Above: A cloud of bees waiting to be re-homed.

Below: Some much-needed supplies were transported by helicopter. Photos: Duncan Storrier.

BEECONOMICS There are 1500 beekeepers in the Blenheim and Canterbury regions with over 124,000 hives in total. The economic value of both the pollination potential and honey and bee products for these regions is estimated by industry to be just over $155 million per annum. The hives not only provide honey and bee products. Honey bees also play a critical role in pollinating pastoral clover for nitrogen regeneration, specialised small seed crops, berry, stonefruit and pipfruit orchards. Apiculture New Zealand Chief Executive Karin Kos said it had been encouraging to see offers of help come in from its members across New Zealand, as well as from wider industry partners and the Government.

Above and at right: Daniel Milne’s hives, including “a group of 40 with every hive knocked over. Some had moved two or more metres. Not even the straps held them together.” At right: damage to Daniel’s honey shed. Photos: Daniel Milne.

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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, FEBRUARY 2017

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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, FEBRUARY 2017

GIANT WILLOW APHID RESEARCH KICKS OFF PEST AND DISEASE CONTROL Barry Foster, Project Chairman The giant willow aphid (GWA) control team had its first meeting at Scion in Rotorua on 21 November 2016. The team comprises representatives from Scion, Plant & Food Research, The New Zealand Poplar &Willow Research Trust, Zespri, Apiculture New Zealand and the Regional Councils River Managers group.

This meeting marked the start of the project in that all contracts have now been completed and signed. It is an ambitious project that presents many unknowns and will run until 2019. The scope of the project is broad to ensure that it progresses its three most important elements: 1) biological control, 2) willow resistance and 3) short-term mitigation strategies. Funding The budget for funding this programme is tight and we are grateful to receive co-funding from a wide range of sources including various ApiNZ Hubs and beekeeping businesses, as well as co-funding from MPI’s Sustainable Farming Fund. As always, we could do more with more co-funding and any future co- funding will be gratefully received. Progress to date Scion and Plant & Food Research have undertaken some initial work to find a potential candidate parasitoid wasp. They also are evaluating willow cultivars to determine those most resistant to GWA and to quantify the impact of GWA infestations on willow health and survival. Short-term mitigation is being looked at as well for the continued health of horticulture and amenity willows. Several steps will need to fall into place in order to successfully import a new organism for testing as a biological control agent. The organism needs to be located, correctly identified by a taxonomic expert, approved for import by both the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and MPI and successfully transported to New Zealand. Finally, the right conditions must be met in order to develop a perpetuating colony here in containment. Last August and October, scientists from Scion travelled to Japan and California to locate a specific known parasitoid of giant willow

Left to right: Dr John McLean and Barry Foster, Dr Stephanie Sopow (Scion) and Dr Trevor Jones (Plant & Food Research), taken at Scion’s laboratory in November 2016. Stephanie is holding a box containing samples of Pauesia salignae and a hyperparasitoid that were collected in Japan in August. Photo provided by Scion. An application to the EPA to import this

parasitoid in containment will be made this year. If successful, the first imports into containment could be made by October. Prior to that time, we will attempt to match the candidate parasitoid with the genetics of our aphids to best match parasitoid and host and, if possible, to find out where our GWA came from. Following an importation of a parasitoid in containment, there will be approximately two years of evaluation with regard to its efficacy against GWA, any impacts on the local ecology, and consultation with stakeholders including iwi. We will provide further updates as this project progresses. A website is planned, as well as presentations and consultations at forthcoming ApiNZ conferences.

Pauesia salignae, a GWA parasitoid. Photo: Barry Foster.

aphid known as Pauesia salignae , as shown in the photo above.

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NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPER, FEBRUARY 2017

MYRTLE RUST: BEING PREPARED PEST AND DISEASE CONTROL

Karin Kos and Barry Foster

In December 2016, Karin Kos and Barry Foster from Apiculture New Zealand, along with Government, iwi and research organisations, attended a myrtle rust workshop in Wellington organised by the Biosecurity team of the Ministry for Primary Industries. Following is a summary of the workshop and next steps.

Figure 2. Yellow and purple pustules.

In Queensland alone, there has been a 66 percent dieback on affected trees, as well as loss of species that is likely to lead to extinction of some species, with cascading effects on invertebrates, birds and other links in the food chain dependent upon them. Although the impact of myrtle rust on the bee population has not been researched in Australia, there is an impact on pollination interruption. Bob Makinson, a conservation biologist from New South Wales, highlighted some of the issues Australia faced including lack of a coordinated approach, with each State doing its own thing, and not being prepared early enough. The key lessons shared by the Australians included this lack of a coordinated response, the need for a botanically literate workforce for surveillance, and more studies on all impacts, including the economic and environmental impacts of this fungal pest.

Myrtle rust (Puccinia psidii) is an invasive rust that infects plants belonging to the family Myrtaceae—including eucalypts, paperbarks, bottlebrush, tea tree and lilly pilly. It is native to South America and has spread to Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, the USA (Florida, California and Hawaii), Japan, China, Australia and South Africa. The disease is spread rapidly through the movement of infected plant material, wind and water, insects and birds and human-assisted dispersal through transfer of clothing, other equipment and machinery. It starts off as small purple spots and transforms into yellow spores, having a devastating effect on the whole plant from its leaves, fruits and stem. While myrtle rust has not been detected in New Zealand, the aim of the workshop was to look at our preparedness and consider an action plan, as well as building on the science, filling the gaps in the research.

Learning from Australia’s experience Australian speakers at the workshop shared their experience of myrtle rust, which was first detected in Australia in April 2010 and has now spread along the east coast from Queensland to Tasmania. Geoff Pegg from the Department of Agriculture & Fisheries, Queensland, said that the lemon myrtle industry suffered an 80 percent loss of production, plus the loss of organic status with fungicide residues binding to oils from lemon myrtle.

continued...

Figure 1. Images of myrtle rust infection on Australian plants. The disease starts as small purple spots and then produces yellow pustules on leaves. While not detected in New Zealand, if this type of spore is seen, do not remove the plant as the spores are very light. Take a photo and send the image to the Ministry for Primary Industries.

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Why should New Zealand care? Much of New Zealand’s climate, particularly in the North Island, is suitable for myrtle rust. Its spores are airborne and can last for 90 days, and while susceptibility of the species changes in each country, it makes sense to start looking at our contingency plans and preparedness for this invasive pest. Additionally, and critically, a number of our key species (such as mānuka and pōhutukawa) belong to the Myrtaceae family. Iwi speakers at the workshop talked about the importance of these species as taonga and the need to engage with iwi in supporting biosecurity solutions, including ongoing surveillance. Next steps In opening the discussion on what action New Zealand needed to take, MPI’s Rebecca Martin talked about the need for New Zealand to get an action plan in place now, looking at adaptive management options for this disease and developing a communications approach that would see the wider public involved in surveillance. Another step was to start registering appropriate fungicide treatments for myrtle rust. The workshop attendees also discussed initiatives such as getting baseline information on susceptible plants, precautionary seed banking, establishing a long-term repository for >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63

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