Where would we be without our bees?

                                          

Last month, I spent a whole 2 days surrounded by bees. Buzzing bees, agitated bees, frenetic bees, and some very confused bees. It’s honey season in New Zealand and I was lucky to see first hand, the goings on in an apiary, deep in orchard country.

Once I got over the initial fascination of the frenzy of noisy swarms around, the essence of the art of maintaining hives shone bright.Truly, where would we be without the little things. New Zealand would have no fruit to export, and no miraculous Manuka honey to heal just about every Kiwi wound. 

The apiary I was reporting on, is one of the few in the country that exports live bees overseas. By the thousands, I saw them being packed away for a 15 hour flight to Canada, soon to provide some Canadian beekeeper his bread and, honey. So there you go, its not just prime cuts of meat that leave our shores to feed foreign lands, but little pollinators too. 

I finished shooting on day 2, sans any stings.My cameraman copped about 4 to the neck. It’s good for you” the boys said. Of course they would. The story goes to air next  week & up here soon.