Franklin bee keepers need community help

Local bee keepers are asking the public for help in identifying a plant that could send them out of business.

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority issued a new standard* in January to ensure honey produced in New Zealand does not contain tutin toxin from a native poisonous plant called tutu.

With the estimated value of honey sales from Franklin thought to be around $500,000 per year, produced by up to 200 local apiaries, this could have a large impact on the Franklin economy. This does not include the impact of pollination on other sectors such as horticulture.

To ensure New Zealand bee keeper’s honey is free of tutin, they must either undergo costly testing which is not viable for the majority of Franklin apiaries, or confirm there is no significant presence of tutu within a 3km radius of the apiary or the apiary is in a low-risk area.

Secretary of the Franklin Bee Keepers Club Peter Biland says investigating the presence of tutu within the 3km radius equates to 28 square kilometres of land to be searched, and that is where the public and Franklin District Council come in.

“We’re asking locals to help us identify any tutu growing in the district. We can then collate the data and map the locations of tutu in the set 3km area via the help of Franklin District Council’s geographic information systems technology. Aerial photos will also be supplied by Council which will greatly assist us in identifying areas of possible tutu growth for detailed inspection.”

“Because tutu is poisonous it is unlikely to be found on farms as landowners identified it as a plant poisonous to their stock many years ago. Typically it grows on the margin of regenerating bush, river banks and road sides, and has also been sold by nurseries. We urge locals to keep an eye out for tutu and advise us if they find any.”

Once tutu is identified, bee keepers will then work with property owners to perhaps destroy the plants or assess their number and the likely risk they present. The issue exists only in summer months and particularly during periods of extended dry weather.

Franklin District Council GM Corporate Sue O’Gorman says the identification of tutu is just one example of where the aerial photography and related mapping technology Council has invested in is available to help locals free of charge.

“The public are able to use Council’s free geographic information system to check out property information for the entire district, aerial photography and rating information online. Go to www.franklin.govt.nz and hit the quick link ‘View Maps and Property Information’ on the home page. For detailed projects such as the tutu one, call Council on 2371300.”

To advise Franklin bee keepers of the presence of tutu, please contact Peter Biland on peter_biland@hotmail.com or phone 09 294 8365.

Ends

Notes to editor

Peter Biland is available should you like a photo of him with the tutu plant and/or with the mapping information they are using.

*Food (Tutin in Honey) Standard 2008, issued by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority pursuant to section 11C of the Food Act 1981. More information can be found on www.nzfsa.govt.nz.

Tutu is a native shrub (coriaria arborea) growing up to 5m in height with several soft stem-like angular branches bearing glossy dark-green pointed-end leaves and has purple fruit.Tutin toxin is a neurotoxin and is extremely toxic. Tutu flowers are produced on long pendent racemes that produce fruit. Most parts of the plant are very poisonous and caused severe stock losses in the early days when droving was the main means of moving stock. There is a risk of toxic honey production when bees collect honeydew excreted by the passion-vine hopper (Scolypopa sp) feeding on the sap of tutu. Bees are not affected by tutin.

The chance of bees feeding on tutu is very unlikely and only in times of prolonged dry weather when other nectar sources dry up, however it is a risk that must be managed.

The NBA (National Beekeepers Association) has recorded that as at 20th May 2008, the Northland, Auckland and Hauraki Plains area honey crop was 1186 tonnes from 487 beekeepers with 2549 apiaries and 43,877 hives. 60% of beekeepers had from 0- 5 hives, 16% 6-10, and 11% 11-50 hives. This distribution is likely applicable to Franklin. Total beekeeper numbers in NZ was 2594 with 344,123 hives and the honey crop was estimated at 12375 tonnes in the 2007/2008 year. The national average honey crop per hive was 36kg., but this is very weather dependant.

There are 43 members of the Franklin Bee Keepers Club and around five commercial operators with a significant number of hives.

Franklin Bee Keepers own an average of four hives. There are around 3000-4000 hives in Franklin. Many members of the Franklin Bee Keepers Club produce enough honey for their own use, plus have some surplus to sell locally or to a processor. Peter Biland for example, produces around 60kg of honey per year that is surplus to his needs and is sold locally.

Franklin District Council’s Geographic Information Systems team can work on larger projects such as this project. In some cases there will be charges for complex enquiries.