THIS IS THE JULY 1993 ISSUE OF 'BUZZWORDS', THE MONTHLY
NEWSLETTER OF THE NEW ZEALAND BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION.  IF I CAN
HELP WITH ANY MATTERS ASSOCIATED WITH IT, DO NOT HESITATE TO
CONTACT ME.
 
-------------------------------------
          Nick Wallingford
            Tauranga, NZ
 (East coast, N Island, New Zealand)
     Internet [log in to unmask]
-------------------------------------
 
 
A WARM TIME IN GORE
 
This year's highly successful Gore conference proved once again
how dangerous it is to listen to 'nay-sayers'.  For starters,
despite numerous predictions to the contrary, the conference in
the deep south was very well supported.  The seminar attendance
in particular was virtually identical to last year's in Hastings.
 
The weather in Southland also turned out much better than
predicted - cold at night, to be sure, but dry and mostly sunny
every day.  No one could say they didn't provide sufficient heat
at the conference venue, either.  In Southland, when they say
central heating, they mean you can even open up all the windows
and doors.
 
And as all conference participants can attest, the warmth of the
venue was matched by the warmth of all the Southlanders they met
- the conference organisers, the Croydon Lodge staff, and even
just the people on the street.  As one astonished North Islander
exclaimed, 'they stop for you at the cross walks and they even
smile at you as they wait!'
 
Congratulations must surely go to all Southland branch members
who worked so hard to ensure that the conference was a success.
Special thanks to Don Steadman, Southland branch president, who
met everyone at the airport, and seemed to have everything under
control right straight through; to Frances Trewby, who organised
a very valuable seminar; and to Ian Spence, Keith Herron, Michael
and Kerry Lee, and Ross Ward, who all played prominent roles
throughout the week.  Thanks for such a good (and warm) time!
 
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
 
This year's conference saw the retirement of Dudley Ward
(Dannevirke), your NBA president for the past three years, and
the replacement of a further two members of the executive - Nick
Wallingford (Tauranga), and Michael Wraight (Nelson).  Conference
delegates praised all three for the hard work and keen interest
they have shown in industry affairs over the years, and
identified the particular qualities each brought to the difficult
task of running the association.
 
Dudley Ward was singled out for the 'strong conciliatory
approach' he brought to the office of president and his ability
to accomplish so much as a 'team manager'.  Nick Wallingford was
acknowledged for his incisiveness, particularly in making
government submissions, and for his computing and budgetary
skills.  Michael Wraight earned the thanks of his fellow
executive members for his ability to 'cut through all the jargon
in proposed legislation' facing the industry.  Michael and Nick
were heavily involved in submissions to government on both the
Bio-Security Bill and the Australian honey import protocols.
 
New members of the executive, who took up their positions at the
executive meeting at the end of conference, are Graham Cammell
(Auckland), Russell Berry (Rotorua), and Mervin Cloake (Timaru).
 
 
AN APPROPRIATE CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT
 
It is perhaps fitting in this centenary year of woman's suffrage
in New Zealand that delegates elected Frances Trewby (Nelson) as
their new president to lead the NBA.  Frances was previously
vice-president of the association.  It was also pointed out that
the appointment was doubly appropriate, since the first beekeeper
in New Zealand was in fact a woman.
 
Just as important for many readers of Buzzwords, however, is the
fact that Frances is the first beekeeper employee to ever become
the leader of our industry.  The appointment recognises the
important part workers, as well as owners, play in beekeeping and
also acknowledges the range of skills and experiences of industry
members.  The variety of people involved in our industry is one
of its great strengths, and in the past has been one of the main
reasons that beekeeping has been so progressive and influential
in New Zealand.
 
Delegates elected Richard Benseman (Ashburton) as the
association's new vice-president.
 
 
QUALITY, QUALITY, QUALITY
 
As Bill Floyd points out in his article later on in this issue,
the essence of at least the seminar-part of this year's
conference could be summed up in the word 'Quality'- quality,
because its good for your business; quality, because the business
of the on-seller of your products (domestic and export) may
depend on it; quality, because you may not even be able to
extract your honey in the future without it.
 
Speakers on the subject included Steve Olds, from Tecpak
Industries in Dunedin, a major supplier of packaging to our
industry; Denise Riches, a quality systems consultant from Peat-
Marwick; Sally Gilbert, a Health Protection Officer with Southern
Health; and Bryan Clements, from Kihikihi, a honey packer who is
currently developing quality systems for his business.  The
selection of speakers was excellent, and a variety of approaches
and opinions were presented.
 
For Steve Olds, the need to concentrate on quality in his
business was based on the fact that unless they kept improving
their products in the market place, competitors would soon step
up and fill in the gaps.  He now believes that unless all of us
adopt quality systems in the future, our businesses will surely
disappear.  But Steve was quick to point out that Total Quality
Management was not a panacea; it can't solve all the problems in
a business.
 
At Tecpak they soon realised that senior staff had to learn basic
management skills and engage in serious business planning if
their commitment to quality was to succeed.  Part of that
management training took the form of new ways of handling
workers, the most important part of any business, according to
Steve.  The main change they have made at Tecpak is to ensure
that barriers are removed which rob their workers of their pride
of workmanship.
 
Densie Riches provides quality management consultancy services to
a range of businesses throughout the South Island.  She believes
the drive in the future for quality systems in New Zealand
business will be the requirement for quality assurance by
purchasers.  For exporters, this is already fast becoming the
case.  New Zealand firms are finding that to remain competitive
internationally, quality accreditation is essential.
 
The change is also now being reflected on the domestic market.
Food retailers, especially, are beginning to establish formalised
accreditation of suppliers.  Provided the supplier can meet
recognised standards of product quality and deliver on time, they
become the favoured suppliers of goods.  Quality systems are
therefore finding their way out of the factory and all the way
down to the primary producer.  Denise currently has several diary
farmer clients developing quality systems.
 
The information Sally Gilbert presented was no doubt a shock to
some people in the room.  Sally outlined the provisions of the
draft Food Safety Regulations now before Parliament (release date
so far unknown).  When the regulations are enacted they will
replace the current Food Hygiene Regulations, 1974, the
legislation under which honey houses are currently licensed.
According to Sally, the old legislation, which concentrated on
how the premises should be constructed, turned out to be less
than satisfactory.  Many people complained about the rigidity of
the requirements (remember sloping window sills!), while at the
same time the rules completely missed out on assessing the actual
processes which took place in the premises.
 
The new legislation will be quite the reverse; it will
concentrate on the food safety systems in the premises and will
give back to the owner the responsibility for ensuring that the
structures and machines are suitable for producing a safe
product.  In effect, honey houses (and all other food processing
places) will not be registered; the premises's food safety
programme will be registered instead.
 
Owners of honey houses will have to write a simple food safety
document which outlines these food safety quality systems,
including hazard analysis, sampling/testing, monitoring, and what
would be done to rectify problems which might occur.  According
to Sally, coming up with such a system should be quite easy for
beekeepers because our product is pure, unprocessed, and
incapable of harbouring disease-bearing organisms found in most
other foods.
 
Bryan Clements outlined the process his business (Waikato Honey
Products) is taking to achieve ISO 9002 quality accreditation.
Bryan received a Business Development Board grant which pays for
half of the expenses for quality management training and half the
expenses of the accreditation audit.
 
Bryan has employed a MAF Quality Management consultant to help
and just recently had his first audit by Telarc, a New Zealand
quality accreditation firm.  While at times nerve-racking, Bryan
is sure the system will pay dividends in the future.  His message
to the seminar was a simple 'if I can do it, so can you!'
 
HEARD AT CONFERENCE
 
'If you're interested in remaining in business in the future,
you'll soon learn the meaning of the word `quality'' - Steve Olds
 
'How can you have quality honey if your system for processing it
isn't quality' - Steve Olds
 
'Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning, it's now gone afternoon.' -
Keith Herron
 
'If you are asking for what you were intending to ask for, I'd
still speak against it.'
 
'The two shareholders are the Minister of Science, and Ruth
Richardson, the minister of everything.'
 
'If you are not prepared as a government to pay for an EDPR for
EFB, then don't allow Australian honey into this country.' -
Keith Herron
 
1080, WASPS, AND AFB
 
A normal feature of any annual conference are the scientific
reports, and this year speakers took the opportunity to announce
several breakthroughs in areas of concern to beekeepers.  The
main speaker was Dr. Oliver Sutherland, general manager with the
Weeds and Pests Division, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, one
of the new Crown Research Institutes.  Landcare Research was
given the job of finding and testing a new bee repellent for 1080
following the controversial ending of work on oxalic acid (see
Buzzwords 54).  Landcare Research contracted Dr. Mark Goodwin,
the discoverer of the original oxalic acid repellant, to test a
range of other substances for bee repellency.  Mark came up with
another candidate, called isovaleric acid (IVA), a common
substance found in some food products.  The substance has also
now been tested by Landcare Research on possums in cages, and
seems to have no repellant effect on the possums at all.
Landcare Research is now in the process of setting up field
trials on the repellant.
 
Dr. Sutherland assured the audience that this time the trials
will be conducted in a proper scientific manner and that only
Landcare Research personnel will be involved.  Dr. Sutherland
said that work was also under way to develop an alternative to
1080 which would kill possums, but would be safe to a range of
other organisms (including insects).  The new product would also
incorporate a bee repellant to ensure that bees did not bring the
material back to their hives.  According to Dr. Sutherland, 'our
hope is that in a very short time we will have an alternative.'
 
Dr. Sutherland also outlined current work being conducted by
Landcare Research on wasps.  With the restructuring of science a
little over a year ago, wasp researchers from a number of
government departments were brought together to work as a team in
Landcare Research.  The group immediately set about evaluating
the current control approach, which uses a parasitic wasp as a
biological control.  Clearly, the establishment of the wasp
hadn't been successful, even though a second establishment site
had recently been found in Canterbury.
 
After computer modelling of the parasite populations, the group
came to the conclusion that even though this had been the most
widely distributed biological control release in New Zealand
history, it will never reach the levels necessary to fully
control either the German or common wasp.  Since the biological
control effort using the first parasite had been driven by
outside funding (especially from regional councils) and that
funding had now dried up, the group decided to focus its control
efforts instead on new biological control agents and on chemical
controls.
 
Dr. Sutherland was able to announce at the conference that a new
substance, sulphfluramid, which is an excellent wasp poison, will
soon be manufactured in a bait formulation, and should be
available to the public next summer.
 
And we couldn't let a conference go by without some more stunning
results on AFB, and Dr. Mark Goodwin certainly didn't let us
down.  This last season Mark and his team at Ruakura set up a
trial to test the disease-spreading risk of wet (freshly
extracted) supers.  Forty hives, all testing negative for AFB
spores using the adult bee test, were divided into two groups.
One group received extracted supers which had originally come
from hives with visual symptoms of AFB; the other group acted as
a control.
 
The supers were placed on the colonies in the late spring and no
robbing was observed between any of the colonies.  Nevertheless,
when adult bees were sampled 2 days later, all colonies
(including the controls) tested positive for AFB spores.
According to Mark, robbing obviously had occurred, but not in a
way that was normally evident.
 
The hives were then completely inspected for diseased larvae, but
on the first round nothing was found.  One month later, however,
1 hive was found to be infected with AFB (from the wets group),
and further infected hives were found throughout the next five
months.  To date, a total of 8 wet-super colonies (40% of sample)
have broken down.  But more surprisingly, 4 of the control
colonies have developed visual symptoms as well.
 
According to Mark, wet supers would appear to be a very important
factor in the spread of AFB.  He believes it is therefore
essential that all colonies are inspected before any honey is
taken off.  Such inspections are all the more important, he
believes, because if AFB-infected supers end up on new colonies
in the spring, the long-term development of obvious disease
symptoms may mean that the beekeeper will still be reaping the
consequences 12 months later.
 
A FRIEND IN PARLIAMENT
 
For the second year running, Denis Marshall, the associate
Minister of Agriculture, was unable to address conference (see
Buzzwords 44).  Last year it was an ear infection, and this year
he was called away at the last minute to handle urgent
legislation before the House.  In his place we were instead
addressed by a 'breath of fresh air' in the form of Margaret
Moir, MP for West Coast, and member of both the Agriculture
Caucus Committee and the Primary Production Select Committee.
Delegates knew they were in for a 'different approach' when she
began her address by saying, 'I've changed some of the words in
this because of the bureaucratic jargon; I never know what they
mean.'
 
Her prepared notes covered all the various current government
actions affecting our industry, including the Commodity Levy Act
Amendment Bill (the government's going to make the voting system
more workable), the Bio-Security Bill (due back before the House
in two weeks), and the Australian Honey Protocols (a new protocol
is likely at the end of this year, with submissions called for in
January-February).  It was on this last subject that most of the
real discussion took place.  Putting away the notes (which she
said she disagreed with, anyway), Mrs. Moir told us that she
'didn't think we should import any Australian honey at all.'  To
her it was 'ludicrous' that the government was even considering
it, while at the same time trying to improve bio-security.
 
Mrs. Moir made the point quite strongly that our industry needed
to continue the lobbying effort on the issue, making sure that
every MP knew what affect any likely import would have.  She said
that the way to do this lobbying was by a personal visit, rather
than by mail.  Each MP gets approximately 12 inches worth of mail
per week, so the personal approach is vital.
 
Mrs. Moir also believes that our industry is in a key position to
get other industries to help us win the fight on Australian honey
and also on EDPR.  'The government is prepared to share the
expense on things like foot and mouth because it threatens our
future', she said.  'You will need to persuade the government
that for a bee disease it will also be a threat to our New
Zealand future.'
 
During question time, members of the executive who had made the
original submission to the Ag Caucus Committee on Australian
honey let the audience know just how important Mrs. Moir was to
the cause.  According to Frances Trewby, Mrs. Moir was the one
who 'knew the questions to ask to get the answers we wanted to
tell her.'  And Mrs. Moir responded by telling the audience that
our campaign had indeed been effective.  'You have obviously made
the Minister pause, because he was keen to have Australian honey
in New Zealand last year', she said.  The important thing now,
according to Mrs. Moir, was to keep up the fight, and be ready
with sound, well-constructed arguments when the next protocol is
proposed.  Needless to say, by the end of Mrs. Moir's session,
conference was left in no doubt that there would be at least one
strong beekeeping supporter in the Beehive next time around.
 
TOWARDS AN AFB-FREE FUTURE
 
Conference was also presented with the long-awaited report of the
Disease Control Committee, chaired by Ian Berry (Havelock North),
a past president of the association.  The committee was made up
of 7 prominent beekeepers from throughout the country, and
included people with a range of different opinions on disease
control.  The committee carried out most of its affairs via
conference call, and achieved its objective at below its $2500
budget.
 
It's probably common knowledge by now that the committee
recommended an industry goal of AFB eradication in New Zealand by
the year 2000.  Ian Berry defended this goal by pointing out
that:
 
a)        the goal was the same as the one held by most good
beekeepers for their own outfits,
 
b)      eradication would be the most economic approach to the problem
in the long-run,
 
c)      the goal would signal to government the beekeeping industry's
strong commitment to disease control (especially in relation to
honey imports), and
 
d)      even if the goal wasn't met, the worst that could happen would
be to achieve a better level of disease control than we already
have.
 
Ian said the committee felt that the alternative would be to
continue to find diseased hives at slower rate than new hives
were infected, with the result that the industry would finally
have to adopt drug feeding to survive.
 
The committee report calls for an increased educational component
to the current disease control programme, so that every beekeeper
will be able to recognise AFB, inspect their hives, deal
effectively with outbreaks, and report disease to authorities.
They suggest the production of a 'Starting with Bees' pamphlet at
the national level, for distribution to all new beekeepers, and
an AFB control manual, for the use of commercial beekeepers.
Branches would also play a bigger part in the programme, and the
committee suggests a change to the NBA rules to ensure that every
branch carries out an annual AFB education meeting.
 
The committee also recommends that the way be cleared for
striking a levy under the Commodity Levies Act, once the Hive
Levy Act is repealed in 1995.  The committee suggests that the
levy be on an apiary basis and be charged to all beekeepers
owning 4 apiaries or more.  They also recommend a change to June
1 for levy payments and a corresponding change to June 1 for
disease declarations to MAF.
 
The committee report now has to be considered by the full
executive.  Conference gave its support for the recommendations
by passing the various related remits.  In the next year it will
be up to the NBA, and MAF (as the current AFB programme
contractor), to implement any of the recommendations the
executive decides to adopt.
 
'THE TREE IS JUST PLANTED, DON'T PULL IT UP'
 
The Honey Industry Marketing Plan was also tabled at conference,
with a talk outlining the plan by Marketing Committee chairman
Alan McCaw, and a presentation on marketing initiatives by Bill
Floyd.  Bill presents more detail in his article below.
 
Following the presentations, discussion took place on remit 17,
which proposes the continuation of the marketing level for the
next financial year.  Debate centred on the need to show
financial commitment to the plan in order for it to have a chance
to succeed.  Several delegates expressed their personal
reservations about the levy, but there seemed to be common
agreement that the levy must proceed, at least for another year.
As Mervin Cloake (Timaru) said, 'if we pull the pin on it now,
we've done the money cold.'
 
Questions were also asked of executive regarding the non-payment
of hive levies.  Many members had felt that the imposition of the
marketing levy would drive beekeepers underground, or result in a
large number of undeclared hives.  It turns out, however, that
hive levy payments are currently within 1% of last financial
year, and that substantially more hives have been declared than
were budgeted for (executive budgeted for a downturn).  There is
still, however, an outstanding debt on hive levies of $35,000
(out of a total of about $230,000) and steps are being taken to
initiate legal action against larger non-payers.
 
 
ALSO HEARD AT CONFERENCE
 
        'If you establish a bee site, you don't decide to move it after
only one year.  You give it three or four years, taking into
account the vagaries of weather, etc., before you make your
evaluation.'  - Findlay Abernethy
 
        'When politicians read this order paper and see our commitment to
AFB eradication, they'll see how seriously this industry is about
its bio-security.' - John Dobson
 
        'We don't need to discuss this remit, but I guess that's what I'm
doing, so it looks like I will.' - Alan McCaw
 
        'Is there anyone who wants to suggest an amendment to this
motion?  No, I would suggest we just let the mess stand, as it
is, for the record!'
 
        'There are 389 ordinary (non-levy paying) members in this
organisation who feel that they are already contributing enough.
Hobbyists are a great asset to our industry and our one of its
strengths.  They're not just in the association for the magazine.
They're in it to help contribute to the society we all live in.'
- Colin McLean
 
        'I think there's a statement in there somewhere about small
groundnuts and lesser primates.' - Peter Bray
 
        Re. controls on the function of executive - 'If we own a dog, we
don't have to bark as well.' - Dale Gifford
 
        'We've really enjoyed the deep south.  The weather's been dry,
and so has the humour.'
 
        'You're the only vice-president I've had that I've been able to
give a kiss.' - Dudley Ward to Frances Trewby
 
NOTES FROM THE MARKETING COMMITTEE
 
The Honey Industry's Marketing Plan now moves into full swing as
a result of the support of delegates at this year's conference.
Although the marketing levy which resulted from last year's
conference provided funds for the coming (1993/94) year, it was
necessary for the Marketing Committee to get confirmation of
ongoing funding for 1994/95 before it could make final decisions
on its strategies and priorities.
 
If the essence of the 1993 Conference could be summed up in a few
words (apart from the obvious consensus that 'line-dancing is a
great toe-tapper'), it would have to be that 'its time to toe the
line on quality'.  The Marketing Committee had identified
'Quality Systems' and 'Product Integrity' as being vital to
creating a sound foundation for all marketing promotional
activities.
 
Some packers are producing international-class products; others
(while perhaps not realising it) are doing everything as if their
sole objective was to reduce the return to beekeepers and
themselves and to keep honey perceived as a lacklustre, mediocre
product.
 
The Honey Marketing Plan specifically addresses these 'Quality'
issues, and the first priority on the Marketing Funds is to carry
out the following strategies:
 
-       Develop a set of standards and industry specifications to
become knows as the New Zealand Honey Quality Standards (NZHQS)
 
-       Make these standards available to the beekeeping industry
 
-       Develop a 'Honeymark' that can be used on honey packaging that
has been produced to these NZHQS specifications
 
-       Create opportunities for the beekeepers and packers who use
the NZHQS
 
The NZHQS and the Honeymark 'Quality' symbol will create a
foundation for the future successes of the New Zealand beekeeping
industry and are the cornerstone of the Marketing Committee's own
actions over the next three to five years.
 
This year's conference was also used to release the broad details
of a New Zealand Honey Food Technology Service.  This service
will provide New Zealand food manufacturers with opportunities to
include honey in their own products.  The service will follow the
already successful format developed in the US.
 
The Marketing Committee has been given permission by the US honey
industry to use all their research and promotional material at no
charge in return for keeping them in touch with what we achieve
here in New Zealand.
 
The move into developing honey as a food ingredient once again
puts the emphasis on the need for a national industry 'Quality'
standard.  The intention is to develop product concepts directly
with food manufacturers, and once we have their interest, provide
them with a list of those beekeepers/packers who are meeting the
NZHQS requirements.  Those beekeepers will then be able to tender
for supplying the honey for the project.
 
The Marketing Committee also has a number of strategies aimed at
increasing the profile of honey per se in New Zealand.  However,
our first priority is the development of the NZHQS. Bill Floyd,
Honey Marketing Committee
 
FROM THE BRANCHES
 
The next meeting of the Auckland branch is scheduled for
Thursday, August 5, beginning at 7:30 pm, at the Papakura
Anglican Church Hall.  Discussion topic for the meeting will be
'feeding bees'.
 
The next meeting of the Waikato branch will be held on Friday,
August 6, beginning at 10 am, at the Green Room, Homestead,
Ruakura.