Bee Protection & Health Program

As part of MNZ’s Bee Protection & Health Program, in addition to our own dedicated beekeepers, we currently employ a specialist apiculturist and seasonal beekeeping inspectors based in New Zealand’s North Island, with assigned areas on both the North and South Island. MNZ takes good care of our wonderful hard workers; our precious bees.

MNZ currently manages over 5600+ hives with many millions of bees situated in some of the most rural areas on both the North and South island of New Zealand. These range from large operations with more than 80+ colonies to very remote areas with just a few colonies. The hives placement are located only in the rural parts of New Zealand, with focus on very isolated areas with plenty of Manuka trees.

The Bee Protection & Health Program focuses on the inspection of our wooden beehives, the beecolonies, the possible precense of pests such as Varroa and Tropilaelaps mites and pathogens, like the fungal disease Nosema, and other viruses.

The Bee Protection & Health Program monitors the current health of hives, colonies, queens, queens sourced from outside breeders; ensuring our entire supply chain from bees to final proucts are healthy.

As part of our ongoing Bee Protection & Health Program our bees are being fed ONLY with their own honey supply which they have build up from honey mid season towards the end of the season in their own hives in order to survive the New Zealand winter months. Our bees would only have to be fed supplementary if their own honey is being deprived due to extreme and very harsh winters. Our management system is setup in such a way that our bees always have sufficient honey of their own within their own hives.

The Bee Protection & Health Program of MNZ enforces a strict quality control process that tests all manuka honey for a number of parameters including microbiological elements, toxins, pesticides, sugars, pollen, moisture content, taste, color and enzyme activity, as required by the MPI. In this way it is ensured that all manuka honey that enters our packaging facility, and all batches that are ready and leave the facility, are of the highest quality.

In addition, in New Zealand, we are overseen by two government agencies that set rules to protect honey bees and food sources: The New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is responsible for the country’s food safety system; it sets and monitors standards for the food industry.

MPI has a national screening program in which MNZ – in addition to our own batch monitoring program – also participates. Section 8.0 of the MPI Consolidated List of Tests for Animal Products provides a detailed description of the chemical residue testing program that also applies to honey (and other animal products such as meat, fish, and dairy).

The New Zealand Environment Protection Authority (EPA) protects bees and other pollinators such as moths, butterflies, hoverflies and birds by regulating when, how and where insecticides can be used. New Zealand has had strict regulations governing the use of a class of insecticides containing neonicotinoids for years. As New Zealand’s environmental regulator, the EPA is tasked with managing these risks. The authority does this by setting rules for the use of neonicotinoids, including special measures aimed solely at protecting bees.

The most important measure for protecting our raw, monofloral manuka honey is the placement of our wooden beehives: we choose remote, rural, pristine locations far from farmland. This minimizes the risk of the presence of herbicides and pesticides at these locations.

As part of The Bee Protection & Health Program of MNZ; all of our honey products are extensively being tested on both natural occuring compounds and the possible trace elements of pesticdes; making sure our raw honeys and honey products are the purest in the world.

MNZ produces exclusively raw, unfiltered, unpasteurized, monofloral manuka honey in BPA-free packaging and is produced, processed and packaged in New Zealand.