Ātihau-Whanganui research and innovation project
Project start: 4 April 2022
Project length: 3 years
MPI funding: $433,920
Industry funding: $301,280
Industry partner: Ātihau-Whanganui Inc
Region: Whanganui
The project will enable Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporated to apply a Māori lens and a focus on sustainability to inform their apiculture, farming practices and subsequent market supply. The project includes mātauranga Māori farming research, mānuka management research and market analysis.
Securing a resilient and sustainable future: strategic planning for the sustainable growth of the honey sector
Project start: 17 March 2022
Project length: 14 months
MPI funding: $225,000
Industry funding: $158,500
Industry partner: Apiculture NZ, Honey Industry Trust, Comvita, Manuka Health
Region: Nationwide
This project will establish a strategic plan to help create a sustainable future for the New Zealand honey sector. It aims to define opportunities for all industry participants to generate and capture more value from New Zealand honey. It seeks to understand the levels of production, capability, innovation and quality assurance needed to achieve sustainable growth.
Round comb honey production evaluation project
Project start: 30 October 2020
Project length: 1 year
MPI funding: $18,000
Industry funding: $27,000
Industry partner: Ceracell Honey Ltd
Region: Nationwide
This project aims to assess whether feeding honey back to bees will increase the quality of honey into honeycomb sections. This may help to create a more consistent supply of premium comb honey for export.
Foulbrood detection
Project start: 22 September 2020
Project length: 1 year
MPI funding: $50,000
Industry funding: $45,000
Industry partners: Downunder Honey, K9 Search Medical Detection Training Centre, Massey University
Region: Nationwide
This project aims to develop a scientific methodology for training detection dogs to reliably detect the highly infectious bacterial disease American Foulbrood in beehives, by creating a ‘scent picture’ of the disease.
Training dogs to save the bees – YouTube (3:24 mins)
Media release: Training dogs to save the bees
