Abundant manuka a good omen for honey

Wairarapa hills are alive with the buzzing of bees enjoying a massive flowering of manuka, a treasure trove for beekeepers who are expecting a bumper season.

Independent bee keeper Joe Sweeney checked his one and only hive tucked away in the rolling hills near Mount Bruce late last week and was pleasantly surprised by the decent amount of honey and well-behaved bees despite the rain.

"There is a lot of manuka flower around at the moment, so hopefully there will be a lot of nectar. Last year there was bugger all nectar because it was so very dry, so hopefully this year since there's a bit of moisture we will have a good crop."

As the bees are not a fan of heavy rain, he said, honey production slowed down over the weekend but will kick into life again when the sun comes out.

"The bees don't like heavy rain, but it's quite muggy here at the moment, so hopefully they won't have slowed down too much and I'll have a busy hive. It looks like it's going to be a really good season."

Mike Koskela, general manager of commercial beekeepers specialising in manuka honey Watson and Son, said they too were hoping for a good crop this season.

"At the end of the day, the hills can be ablaze with manuka, but you never really know what you're actually going to get, but the season has started out very positively."

He said wet weather would affect the honey harvest, but there was no way yet of knowing just how much of an impact it will have.

"The wet weather over the weekend probably slowed things down because the bees shut down in the rain, they stay at home, so it will be great once the sun comes out again."