Sweet as ... the new buzz around Auckland

New Zealand’s Auckland Town Hall has resonated to some sweet sounds in its 100-year history, and the latest buzz involves a group of busy locals who seem set to stick around for a while.

Honey bees have made their home on the balcony under the elegant, inner-city building’s clock tower and are coming and going from local trees and nearby parks.

Now they’ve produced their first batch of honey - which has been processed and bottled under a limited edition label and sold a stone’s throw away at an iconic department store - in what has all the hallmarks of the perfect eat local, support sustainability story.

National beekeepers
Two beehives were presented to Auckland city by the National Beekeepers’ Association almost a year ago as part of a move to raise awareness about the plight of bees and create a buzz in urban backyards.

The hives have been housed on the town hall - a prominent city landmark on Auckland’s main street - for almost a year with city dwellers mostly unaware of their presence.

The resident queen bees fulfilled a starring role at the town hall - queen ‘Victoria’ ruling over the larger colony and queen ‘Lynne’ taking responsibility for the hives which are bio-security sentinels that act as an early warning system to prevent bio hazards from spreading out of control.

Meanwhile, their charges have been busy collecting pollen and nectar from nearby haunts like Albert Park, Myers Park, the Auckland Domain, Parnell Rose Gardens and Grafton Gully.

First harvest
In what has been one of the longer running seasons at the high profile entertainment venue, the busy bees have produced about 100kg of honey.

The first harvest has been processed and is now sold under the limited edition Town Hall Honey label at one of the city’s oldest and best known department stores - Smith & Caughey.

Proceeds from sales will go towards the upkeep of the hives and continuing research into how best to protect New Zealand bees from exotic disease and pests.

Launched as part of National Bee Week, the honey was an instant hit with Auckland Mayor Len Brown who said it tasted great and would be perfect on crumpets and toast.

Honey of a nation
New Zealand’s honey production is world famous. Honey made from the native manuka tree and bee pollen products from pioneering companies like Comvita have been hailed for their natural health and outstanding healing properties.

Approximately 9,000 to 12,000 tonnes of honey is produced in New Zealand annually, with almost half exported and providing about NZ$81 million in export earnings.

Figures released in March 2011 showed there were 3,251 registered beekeepers, 23,395 apiaries and 388,369 beehives in New Zealand.

But honey bees are in decline worldwide and a major initiative is underway in New Zealand to highlight their plight, caution against the use of pesticides and encourage bee-friendly planting.

Urban Trees for Bees
The National Beekeepers’ Association (NBA) and Trees for Bees NZ has developed a joint project known as ‘Urban trees for bees’ to create awareness and promote the importance of bees.

It says one mouthful in three and nearly three quarters of the diversity of our daily food is directly attributed to bee pollination, and bees are now dependent on humans to protect them.

New Zealand’s dependence on horticulture and agriculture means the country is possibly more dependent on pollination from the honey bee than any other nation on earth.

Some $5.1 billion of New Zealand's annual economy is attributable to pollination by honey bees, domestic honey sales and exports, beeswax and exported honey bees.

Kiwi pioneer of honey for health Claude Stratford turned 100 years old on 18 August 2010 - still at the helm of Comvita the honey-based business he started at the age of 64.

More information

Comvita’s Claude is a 100-year-old honey