Northland retirees celebrate 80kg honey harvest from village beehives

Arvida Te Puna Waiora residents Helen Pieterson, Brenda Dalton and Karen Errey [front], and village manager Monique Hawker and resident Stephen Pieterson [back] are happy with their first harvest of honey. Photo / Jenny Ling

One hundred Northland retirees are reaping the rewards of a successful honey harvest after beehives were introduced to their retirement village.

A year after Arvida Te Puna Waiora retirement community installed two hives on the Kerikeri village grounds, a whopping 80kg of honey was collected and harvested.

Residents and staff are buzzing about the project’s success.

They flocked to the Te Ripo Wai Clubhouse in their droves to fill their jars and containers with honey which village manager Monique Hawker had painstakingly filtered from impurities.

“I put a message on WhatsApp to ‘bring your own jars’,” Hawker said.

“I was there with a cup ladling it into whatever containers people brought down.”

The two hives belong to the village and are tended by “Charlie the local beekeeper”.

Village resident Karen Errey came up with the idea while walking along the nearby river.

Arvida Kerikeri residents are stoked that Karen Errey [pictured] came up with the idea of putting hives on the village grounds. Photo / Jenny Ling

“I saw so many trees and plants out in flower.

“I said to Monique ‘Why don’t we get some beehives’.”

Residents' gardens are also blooming with flowers that attract bees.

The first stage of Arvida’s $170m retirement village development in Kerikeri was launched in 2021 by local hapū Ngāti Rēhia and former mayor John Carter.

Currently, there are 100 residents living in 93 villas, Hawker said.

The complex, at the end of Hall Rd, has the capacity for 265 two and three-bedroom villas.

Hawker said she was delighted with the honey project’s success.

Stephen Pieterson cradles a large jar of honey. Photo / Jenny Ling

“We’ve had the hives for just over a year, fully knowing they would be ready for extraction at the end of last year.

“It’s incredible to see the fruits of our labour.”

Residents have been drizzling the golden nectar over everything, including toast, cereal, and crackers, adding it to salad dressings, and swirling it over ice cream.

“We’re rapt,” resident Brenda Dalton said.

“I haven’t tasted honey like this in years.”

The hives are now back in place as the retirement community waits for the next honey harvest.

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.