Buzz around new beekeeping club

A beekeeping club has sprung up in Warkworth to get more people involved in the art of apiculture.

The Warkworth Wellsford Beekeepers Society started last month after a pair of Mahurangi residents, who had been attending the Rodney Beekeepers Club in Helensville decided to start a local offshoot. Helensville club president Peter McNab has supported the new venture, donating two beehives to the new club.

Twenty-five people have already expressed interest in joining the club, which meets on the first Wednesday of every month at the Old Masonic Hall in Baxter Street, Warkworth, at 7.30pm.

Club co-founder Grass Esposti says the idea is to encourage people to start beekeeping and to share the knowledge and expertise of experienced apiarists.

Ms Esposti started beekeeping three years ago after taking a course run by local apiarist Matthew Wech, who is also a member of the new club.

After a few teething problems, including losing a hive to the varroa mite, Ms Esposti now has five thriving hives in Point Wells.

“I’ve been addicted to bees since I started,” Ms Esposti says.

Club members will learn all they need to know to start a hive, and established beekeepers are offering to provide a starter batch of bees, called a nucleus, at cost to get people underway.

And it can be a productive hobby. A hive of about 10,000 bees produces about 40 kilograms of honey a year and a sizable chunk of beeswax, which can be used as candle wax and as a home-made food wrap.

Ms Esposti says it doesn’t have to be a rural pursuit either. With a few design alterations, beehives can be kept in urban areas and can find more than enough nectar in backyard gardens.

Info: wwbeekepersclub@gmail.com or Grass on 021 026 9674 or Don on 021 027 6281