Kiwi bees get a boost from Kiwi kids

Thousands of bee-friendly gardens will be blooming all over New Zealand thanks to the next generation of bee-loving school children and an initiative from Bayer New Zealand and Apiculture New Zealand.

As part of Bee Aware Month (BAM) celebrations, Bayer and Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ), with the help of Yates, will supply 1,040 schools through Garden to Table Trust and Enviroschools with packets of bee-friendly plant seed mixes.

Bayer farm animal products marketing manager George Reeves said it wanted to help promote flowering gardens at schools to increase access to food and nesting habitats for bees and other pollinators.

As a responsible life science company with many years’ experience in bee health topics, Bayer understands that healthy bees are necessary, not only as pollinators for sustainable food production and as honey producers but also for the important role they play in many ecosystems around the world.

Bayer will supply the schools, aged from early childhood centres to secondary schools, with a packet of wildflower seeds which will provide food for bees all season long – a small commitment to a big cause, ApiNZ CEO Daniel Paul said.

Each packet of seeds also comes with an educational information booklet about the honey bee and how planting seeds can help.

Mr Paul said all of the organisations working together shared the same ethos of caring for the environment and honey bees in a sustainable way.

“Bees pollinate one-third of the food we eat and life without them would be a struggle.

“But it’s a two-way street. Bees need us to plant food they can eat to keep them buzzing. At the moment the bee population here is increasing; there are close to 700,000 hives in NZ, but that doesn’t mean the honey bee is free from challenges and they still need our help.

“It’s great to see Kiwi kids getting involved and showing Kiwi bees some love. Hopefully, we are not only building bee-friendly gardens but the next generation of bee-friendly New Zealanders and maybe even beekeepers.”

BAM will be celebrated across New Zealand throughout September.

The month long campaign is devoted to making New Zealanders think about the honey bee and its critically important role in our biodiversity and economy.

New Zealand’s bee population contribute about $5 billion to our economy annually. New Zealand’s manuka honey is some of the highest valued honey in the world.