Honey bees are essential for pollination. They are responsible for around 90% of orchard pollination – which means 90% of an orchardist’s income is directly due to honey bees.
The Heretaunga Plains supports a diverse range of horticultural crops all with different flowering periods and plant protection requirements. Unfortunately, honey bees do not recognise property boundaries!
Over the last few seasons there have been a number of hive deaths thought to be as a direct result of agrichemical poisoning. Therefore, knowing the location of nearby beehives allows growers to assess the risk before applying plant protection products with ‘bee toxicity warnings’.
The information on this register will help both horticultural and viticultural industries in the decision making process when applying agrichemicals with ‘bee toxicity’ warnings.