Urban beekeeping growing: apiarist

Rentahive co-founder Murray Rixon checks out one of the hives on his Mosgiel property. Photo by...
Rentahive co-founder Murray Rixon checks out one of the hives on his Mosgiel property. Photo by Greta Yeoman

Backyard beehives have risen in popularity as the fear of bees lessens and awareness of their benefits increase, one Dunedin beekeeper says.

Rentahive co-founder and long-time beekeeper Murray Rixon said in addition to many commercial beehives in the wider Dunedin and Taieri area, there were also rising numbers of single hives in urban backyards.

The arrival of the varroa mite in the early 2000s had wiped out thousands of hives around the country and people were keen to help re-establish the country's bee population by owning hives, he said.

While the risk of disease was not as high as in the past, beekeepers were still keeping a close eye on their hives.

The idea of producing home-grown honey was also a popular reason for many hobby beekeepers, alongside contributing to the ecosystem in an environmentally friendly way.

Little honey was being produced over winter due to the bees generally hibernating inside their hives during colder days. They would be out in force again when the weather warmed up, he said.

Mr Rixon's wife and Rentahive co-founder Heidi Rixon said education in schools now meant a lot of children were going home and informing their parents that slight swelling after a bee sting was a natural reaction and did not mean that someone was ``terribly allergic'' to bees, as many people had feared in the past.

This knowledge had led to a wider acceptance of bees and more beehives were popping up around Dunedin schools, she said.

In the past, there had been plenty of spaces for bee colonies to establish themselves around the city in trees, old buildings and other structures, but now most of those spaces had disappeared, it was important for hives to be located around the city, Mr Rixon said.

He estimated about 70 people had rented hives from Rentahive over the last four years. That figure now sat at about 50, as many people had taken the step of buying the hives after a few years.

The Rixons had found that the Andersons Bay area seemed to be the best place for keeping bees in the city.

Rentahive founders Murray and Heidi Rixon will speak at the Dunedin Botanic Garden Information Centre on Friday, July 1 at noon as part of the HortTalk series.

- by Greta Yeoman 

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