Nopera Whitley

The sun is out, the spring winds have dropped, and our bees are happy. It’s time to give a huge sigh of relief and reflect on the crazy year that was.We New Zealanders are so privileged to be able to enjoy a Christmas spent with family and friends. As we buzz about looking for festive treats, our bees are foraging for goodies too. At this time of year, they are continuing to work the Kāmahi and are just beginning to discover the early flowering Mānuka. The busy little creatures are so intent on their honey collection that they pay no attention to us at all. So, we will pretty much leave them to it over the Christmas break — just checking in once or twice, to make sure they are happily working and have strong hives.  As our team takes time to reflect on

Sustainability is close to our hearts at Mountain Valley Honey. In fact, it is at the heart of everything we do, and we are always on the lookout for new ways to reduce waste and help the environment. Our attitude to sustainability is reflected in the way we manage our hives. Our bees need a nice clear entry to their hives, but we never use sprays to keep the grass and weeds at bay. We much prefer to get stuck in with a scrub cutter and good old-fashioned manual labour.It’s harder work, especially in a bee suit on a hot day, but the less chemicals we can use in our practices, the happier we are — and bees everywhere appreciate that too.The wilderness location of our hives does pose significant challenges for being environmentally aware since long drives into the

Even after so many years working with bees, we still think there is something quite miraculous about honey – it truly is a gift from nature.Since ancient times, people have revered honey. The Greeks called honey ‘the nectar of the gods,’ and made special honey cakes as offerings to keep the gods on-side.Some scholars even think that ambrosia, the legendary food of the gods, might have been a type of honey. But it was not just the Greeks — honey has associations across many ancient cultures. One of our favourite examples comes from Egypt, where it was believed that bees were the tears of the sun god Ra. Isn’t that a fantastic image? The bee is the symbol of the Hindu gods, Vishnu and Krishna, as well as many other deities.Beehives in ancient Rome were lar

The journey of our honey, from the hive to the pot, and finally to our customers, is made up of a series of very special moments. Whether it is a single healthy bee landing on a wildflower or the careful smoothing of a label, we believe each and every moment contributes to making our honey so special. That’s why we love being hands-on at every stage, taking pride in all the little things that really make a difference.Our philosophy of being as gentle as we can, so as to ensure our honey retains all of its natural goodness, is reflected in our decanting process.  It takes 5-7 days to slowly bring a batch of honey up to the same temperature it would be in the hive — around 35 degrees Celsius. Honey at this temperature flows beautifully into the packing ta

We think that extracting honey has to be the best smelling job in the world, and it’s probably the stickiest! At extraction time, from Summer to mid-Autumn, our warehouse becomes a hive of activity. Packed with loaded honey boxes, the whole place is rich with the scent of honey. It’s almost as if summer lingers on for a while, with the delicious floral aromas really taking us back to those glorious harvest days in the South Island wilderness. Our philosophy for extraction is to keep things simple. We are passionate about ensuring that our honey retains all its natural enzymes and antibacterial properties. That means doing as little as possible in terms of processing. There’s no creaming here.However, while extraction might be a simple process for us, it is a se

Beekeeping doesn’t exactly spring to mind when people are asked to name an action-packed job. However, during the Mānuka honey harvest, we sometimes feel as if we are on the set of a James Bond movie — starring Murray Elwood instead of Daniel Craig. What with the stunning mountain scenery, top-secret locations, a swooping helicopter, and the very real danger of getting a bee stuck in your hair, it certainly is an exhilarating part of our honey’s journey from the hive to the pot. But for us, the Mānuka honey harvest is not simply some sort of high-adrenaline gold rush. We put a lot of careful thought and planning into ensuring that our harvest is sustainable, ethical and good for bees. While the majority of our hives will remain in the same location throu

Nelson is such a vibrant and exciting place in summer, with everyone taking to the beaches, mountains and rivers. At Mountain Valley Honey we are full of excitement too, and anticipation — because summer is when we finally see the results of the year’s hard work. Last week we began the extraction of this season’s honey. As always, it was a pure delight to retrieve those first few boxes of the summer, all fragrant and oozing with sticky goodness. It is one of those little joys that makes our job so rewarding and marks the beginning of our most thrilling time of the year.In the summertime, our bees are really out in force, having built up their numbers over spring. Now our hives are truly buzzing away, each with up to 50,000 bees inside. The honey boxes, which we loca

Spring has well and truly arrived in Nelson and that means a change of scene for some of our Mountain Valley Honey bees.Beginning around October, when the days grow warm with sunshine and soft breezes, our bees go on a special working holiday — into the local orchards to help pollinate fruit trees and vines. Lending a helping hand with pollination around the Nelson region has been a long-standing tradition in our company, and one that runs in the family. “I’ve been pollinating for around 28 years” says owner, Murray Elwood. “It feels like forever – but Dad was pollinating well before me. Makes me sound old!” This treasured relationship with local farmers goes right back to when Murray’s dad, Merv was just starting out. Working in the

As the days get longer and temperatures begin to rise, here at MVH we are performing our spring checks in preparation for a busy summer. Likewise, our bee friends are also preparing for a busy harvest season.“This time of year the bees are focused on growing their numbers, with the queens increasing egg production,” says MVH co-owner Murray Elwood. The number of bees per hive can double during spring in preparation for summer’s ideal harvesting conditions.Spring in 2019“Spring this year has been a little challenging for our bees, with cooler temperatures and a lot of wet weather making life hard for them,” says Murray ElwoodBees stay in their hives while it’s raining. When it’s windy bees will stay closer to the ground and stay closer to the hiv

A beekeeper does far more than just produce honey. They also have a responsibility to protect their hives and ensure they’re healthy and safe from diseases such as American Foulbrood disease (AFB) – which affects the honeybee larvae and pupae and is prevalent worldwide.In New Zealand AFB it is the most serious honeybee disease beekeepers need to manage. What is American Foulbrood Disease?American Foulbrood (or AFB) is a highly infectious bee disease caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae. AFB exists in two forms (the spore form and the vegetative form), both of which are microscopic in size. These spores can survive outside a honeybee colony for over 35 years and can withstand very high temperatures, including boiling water.When a hive beco

Looking to the future of New Zealand’s beekeeping industry, the priority is looking after our honeybees, and making sure they are in an environment where they can thrive. “The honeybees are the most important thing,” according to Murray Elwood, co-owner of Mountain Valley Honey.“If you’re a good beekeeper, your priority is looking after your bees and making sure they’ve got enough honey year-round, as well as keeping them healthy.”When Murray first started beekeeping, beekeepers were in the business simply for the love of it. “It was very hard to make a living out of beekeeping, and to do so you had to be very switched on.” Beekeepers also respected the sites of other beekeepers and gave everyone a decent amount of space between api

Bees are major pollinators that contribute greatly to the world’s environment and food production. However, our humble honey bees are becoming increasingly endangered due to disease, pests, urbanization and climate change, among other factors. So, we all need to do our bit to protect honey bees and their habitats. Here’s five easy things you can do to help…1. PLANT A RANGE OF FLOWERSPlant a diverse range of flowers and ensure they bloom successively to ensure there is something for the bees to forage all year-round. The more flowers the better – and your garden will look lovely too!Honey bees are especially drawn to purple, blue, yellow and white flowers with a single row of petals to make the nectar easier to access. Honey