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Annual Report for the Year Ended 31 December 1998

OFFICE BEARERS

PRESIDENTRussell BerryWaiotapu
VICE PRESIDENTTerry GavinTitoki

MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE

NORTH ISLAND
Bruce Stevenson
(From July)		Kerikeri
SOUTH ISLAND
Keith Herron
(Til July)		Gore
Lin McKenzie
(From July)		Ranfurly
Don BellSheffield
Tony TaiaroaWaikari

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

Harry and Janice Brown

ASSOCATION'S ADDRESS

40 Niven Street
Napier
Box 3079
Napier
Telephone: (06) 843 3446
Fax: (06) 843 4845
Private: (06) 843 8930
Email: natbeeknz@xtra.co.nz

Introduction

1998 was another very challenging year with the Association now being funded under the Commodity Levies (Bee Products) Order 1996 and trying to establish the actual number of levy payers versus the Apiary Register was a very difficult job

Production

The total saleable crop for 1997 - 1998 production season was estimated at 8081 tones (27.0 kg/hive) which is a decrease on last years crop of 8537 tones (29.5 kg/hive). The six-year average is 8943 tones (30.4kg/hive). (MAF figures)

Honey to the value of $8,102,800 (Statistics NZ) was exported for the 1998 year. Beeswax to the value of $1,209,245 (Statistics NZ)

Live Bee exports

There were 25,722 x 1.5 kg equivalent packages of bees (each with one queen-bee) plus 20,815 queen-bee exported in 97/98. (MAF figures)

Membership

Beekeeper Numbers in New Zealand

There were 5356 (5286 1997) registered beekeepers in New Zealand owning 298,921 hives at the 30th June 1998 (287,458 in 1997). This is an increase of 1.3% of beekeepers, and an increase of 11,463 hives, though Apiary numbers decreased by 3.1%, a trend we expect to continue with the introduction of the Apiary levy.

Ordinary Commercial
1997 1998 1997 1998
Far North 6 6 13 11
Northland 10 8 34 26
Auckland 39 34 86 69
Waikato 27 31 97 76
Bay of Plenty 19 9 113 95
Poverty Bay 8 5 26 24
Hawke's Bay 25 16 56 49
Southern North Island 66 54 132 107
Nelson 12 11 49 41
Marlborough 6 4 49 26
West Coast 2 1 19 18
Canterbury 38 32 108 95
S Canterbury 9 6 46 35
North Otago 3 4 40 33
Otago 18 18 55 48
Southland 6 7 30 30
Totals 294 246 953 783

The large difference in numbers between the years is due to the Apiary register inaccuracy, a lot of the members in fact had not kept bees for a number of years.

Executive

Executive Elections were required for the North Island in 1998.

Two nominations were received for the one North Island seat. Mr. Nick Wallingford and Mr. Bruce Stevenson. The result of the Election for the North Island was Mr. Nick Wallingford, 360 votes, Mr. Bruce Stevenson 742. Mr. Bruce Stevenson was declared the duly elected representative for the North Island.

Two nominations were received for the two South Island seats with Mr Keith Herron standing down. The two nominations were duly appointed representatives for the South Island. They are Mr. Lin McKenzie and Mr. Tony Taiaroa.

The Executive listened to the call of the Branches and met with them wherever possible during 1998. The March meeting being held in Auckland, December meeting in Dunedin, they felt this allowed better communication with the Members and Branches which is important in the time of continuous change for the industry. Executive also was actively involved with Committees and Branches.

Administration services

Harry and Janice Brown continued to act as the Executive secretary for the NBA for the 1998 year.

Annual Conference

1998 Conference was hosted by the Northland and The Far North Branches, 30 delegates attending, representing 16 Branches and approximately 130 members.

The Mayor of the Far North Mrs. Sue James welcomed the delegates to the area and spoke of the highlights for them to see.

Other papers, presentations and reports to Conference and the seminar that preceded it came from:

  • Marketing Report - Mr. Neil Stuckey
  • MAF Quality Management - Mr. Murray Reid and Mr. Derek Bettersworth
  • Hort Research - Dr Mark Goodwin and Dr Louise Malone
  • Trustees Report - Mr. Ivan Dickinson
  • Library Report - Mr. John Heineman
  • Exotic Bee Disease Committee Report - Mr. Peter Berry
  • Publications Committee - Mr. Tony Taiaroa
  • Telford Polytechnic - Dr. David Woodward
  • PMS Review Committee (Formerly Disease Control Committee) - Mr. Bruce Stevenson

    Levy Collection

    1998 was the second year of levy collection under the Commodity levies Act (Bee Products) Order 1996.

    Marketing

    Mr. Neil Stuckey continued in the role of Chairman till his resignation in September and Jane Lorimer was appointed Chairman.

    The research being carried out at the Waikato Honey Research Unit is having a positive influence on honeys across the board.

    Pest Management Strategy

    The PMS Review Committee (Formerly Disease Control) continued working on bringing the PMS into place with Terry Gavin as the Chairman till September when he offered his resignation as he felt his part was now carried out and he would like a younger member to take it to its next stage. Mr. Bruce Stevenson was appointed Chairman in September with Terry continuing as the vice Chairman.

    Library

    John Heinemann continued in his role of Honorary Librarian. The books, magazines and audiovisual materials of the NZ Beekeepers Technical Library form one of the best collections of its kind. There is a selection of historical Beekeeping, videos and tape cassettes for the use of members and Branches at a very reasonable rental. John has also been involved in setting up a collection of Beekeeping literature in Fiji.

    Publications

    The New Zealand BeeKeeper continued its role of informing the Membership of the industry's activities with an increasing membership in NZ and overseas. We have received some very good feed back as to the quality of the magazine. There were 11 issues printed for 1998 and arrived in on budget for the year.

    Industry Trusts

    Grants were approved in 1998 to:

  • Waikato University Honey Research Unit $20,000 for Manuka honey clinical trails
  • Hort+Research $20,000 for research on the effects of surfactants on honeybees.
  • NBA PMS Committee $7500.00 for educational components of the PMS.
  • $25,000 to the NBA to assist with the Commodity Levy costs