By of Gianina Schwanecke of RNZ

Despite fewer hives around and an expected drop in honey production, it looks to be another challenging season for beekeepers.

With the new honey season getting underway, many are expecting to make a loss due to an ongoing glut of honey.

Barry Hantz of Hantz Honey in mid-Canterbury said it was a big concern.

“There’s been oversupply probably for the last five years, especially of mānuka honey,” he said.

“There is a big stockpile out there.”

Hantz, who has just over 5000 hives between Ashburton and Christchurch, didn’t think many beekeepers were expecting to make a profit this season.

“We definitely won’t be expecting to make a profit.

“We haven’t done in the last two years and I don’t see anything changing in the foreseeable future.”

It comes as honey company Comvita last month reported a full-year loss of over $77 million, citing the glut of honey as a contributing factor.

Hantz felt there was a lot of competition among producers, especially for the global markets, which was reflected down in the bulk price that was paid to beekeepers.

“It’s tough at the moment but hopefully it can turn a corner at some stage.”

Central Otago honey producer Russell Marsh agreed there had been a “mismatch” between market demand and honey supply for many years, partly due to the fact honey keeps for a long time.

“It’s just that the overhang we’ve had for the last few years is still in beekeepers’ sheds,” he said.

With the impacts of varroa mites on hive production and more operators leaving the industry over increased costs, he expected this season would see lower honey yields helping “chip into” the surplus inventory.

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“Beehive numbers that are in registration are reducing quite considerably from where they were two to three years ago,” he said.

“Most operators are seeing their costs rising and their incomes either sitting flat or just going back a wee bit.”

Marsh runs about 1000 hives himself and said it was like any industry and would have its peaks and troughs.

It was important to the agriculture sector though and there was a risk of “knock-on effects”, he said.

“The bees are a really important part of the New Zealand economy and at the moment beekeepers are struggling a lot.

‘It’s really critical we have beekeepers survive through this period to ensure other industries aren’t affected by not having enough pollination.”

- RNZ