But another reason for the lower than usual honey crop last year, according to brother Jason, is the number of new operators who have entered the industry in recent years, attracted by the high prices for honey, and manuka in particular.
He said the inexperienced new operators were failing to honour long-held agreements and were paying scant regard to the amount of food available for the bees when deciding where to site their hives and operations.
"Historically it's always been a gentleman's agreement that 'this is your area and I won't come into it', but now it's just a free-for-all," Jason says.
"We don't overstock [areas] but now there are just bees everywhere but there's only so much nectar and pollen available to sustain them," said Jason.
The other serious concern the brothers have from the influx of new operators is the threat of disease, the most feared of which is American Foulbrood (AFB).
In New Zealand, there are only three nationwide pest management strategies in place - one for tuberculosis in cattle, one for the vine-killing Psa in kiwifruit, and one for AFB.
"For us, personally, we've seen our business affected by AFB," said Jason.
"Whereas in the past we haven't had any cases for many years, we have had reported cases through all four of our businesses.
"And that's down to just the number of neighbouring beekeepers around and a lack of skill and education, because a bee can fly 5-7km to forage for food so they will fly to another hive to steal some honey and that's how the disease spreads, especially if the other hives are weak."
The only way to treat affected hives was by burning and completely destroying them, said Jason.
"It comes down to an honesty system. If you get [AFB] you've got to report it and then have to destroy it [the hive] - that's the law. But sometimes, people aren't doing that.
"So we need to ensure there's better compliance and better enforcement, and that's where MPI [the Ministry for Primary Industries] has to do their part.
"It is also law that all hives are registered, which some new people also seem to be ignoring."
The other important part MPI has to play in the industry, says Jason, is delivering on the long-awaited new regulations for manuka honey, which the department says is necessary to protect New Zealand's reputation as a premium exporter of the sought-after product.
For years, the department has been working on establishing a minimum scientific definition of manuka and strengthening export regulations.
Initially, the new standards were due in April but after several delays, are now due for release at the end of August.
When they are finally released, Jason hopes they will be "robust", to stop inferior product being passed off as manuka.
With manuka honey retailing for more than $100 per kilogram, 10 times more expensive than clover honey, the industry has also been plagued by numerous hive thefts in recent years, and Kintail had not been immune.
Despite all this, Jason said the state of the industry represented not only challenges but also opportunities.
"If there's a quick buck in it, everyone wants to jump on board.
"At the moment it's manuka honey but it remains to be seen how long that will last. So for us, we are just focusing on our core business and making sure we do that well."
Started in 1947 in Dannevirke by James Ward's dad, Dudley, Kintail Honey has 12,000 hives - more than half based in and around Takapau and Dannevirke - with 2000 hives in Manawatu, 3000 in Wairarapa and about 1000 hives further north at Te Puke.
During spring, thousands of Kintail's hives are hired out and sent to help pollinate apple crops in CHB and Hawkes Bay orchards, and blueberries grown just south of Flaxmere.
The Te Puke hives will pollinate kiwifruit crops in Tauranga and Bay of Plenty, along with additional hives from the three other businesses.
The Takapau, Manawatu and Wairarapa hives will also pollinate clover on pastureland over summer for farmers across the lower and central North Island.
Kintail packs about 800 tonnes of honey a year - mostly clover but also high-value manuka honey.
The company supplies all of the honey for the Pams and Value brands for the domestic market, as well as its own Kintail brand.
For the past 28 years it has also been exporting live bees to Canada.
