Bee aware of honey bees

Honey bees, which are of European origin, have played a key role in New Zealand horticulture.

For more than 150 years they have pollinated essential crops and produced up to 12,000 tonnes of honey per annum, up to half of which is exported.

The National Beekeepers' Association of New Zealand is marking 100 years of operation and NZ Post has produced a commemorative stamp.

When Yorkshire-woman Mary Bumby realised the numerous species of native bees didn't make honey, she imported the first honey bee hives in 1839, says New Zealand Post's stamps spokesman Simon Allison.

August is Bee Aware month, highlighting the plight of bees and dwindling numbers through the effect of a varroa mite infestation.

She says honey bees are a sort of golden-amber colour and shouldn't be confused with the black and yellow striped bumblebees.

"Bumblebees produce only a tiny quality of honey - enough for their own needs - and despite the similarity in names, have nothing to do with Mary Bumby.

"Sadly, honey bees in New Zealand are under threat as a result of the varroa mite. This collectable stamp issue aims to raise awareness of the immeasurably valuable role honey bees play in this country, and to do so by telling the story of how honey is made," she says.

The 70 stamp, featured in the picture, depicts the first step in making honey - the gathering of nectar - a task carried out by 'field bees' which fly from flower to flower using their long tongues like straws to extract nectar.

The field bees store the nectar in their honey sacs, which can weigh almost as much as the bee itself when full. The honey sacs contain enzymes which break down the complex sugars of the nectar into simpler sugars.

The Honey Bees stamp issue is available from PostShops.