Pollination Partners

Pollination Partners is a business with a focus on the mutually beneficial relationship between the farmer and the beekeeper. The farmers get their clover pollinated – providing valuable nitrogen fixing and high value feed – and Pollination Partners (PPNZ) gets a honey crop and propolis production.

PPNZ is a small but innovative Beekeeping operation based in the Patoka region of Hawkes Bay, New Zealand and was founded on the pollination partnership with the farming and orcharding community.  It is estimated that pollination is worth $5 billion to the NZ economy.

Many beekeeping operations are chasing the high value manuka honey crops at the expense of the lower value clover crops. That means that the pastoral farming community is missing out on the valuable pollination services of its high value nitrogen fixing clover pastures.

PPNZ is dedicated to the long term partnership it has with its pasture farmers, providing valuable pollination services for their clover species. In return PPNZ harvests clover honey and medicinal grade propolis crops in a true mutually beneficial partnership between the farmer, bees and beekeeper.

PPNZ is owned and run by Phil McGrath (Managing Director) and Frances Faulkner (Director).

Phil has an Honours Degree in Horticultural Business Technology and Frances has a Bachelor of Applied Science with a Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Management.

They’ve both had a range of business experience and development from food production, processing, nutrition, export marketing and general management.

Phil says clover pollination contributes $3.1 billion to New Zealand’s economy annually through fixed nitrogen ($1.5 billion), forage yield for agricultural production ($1.5 billion) plus seed and honey.

Clover and the associated rhizobia bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen (N) into plant available nitrogen. Levels of nitrogen fixed annually can vary markedly from 10-15 kg N/Ha up to 700 kg N/ha. Typical levels in grazed pastures are 100 to 300 kg N/year

White clover is a highly nutritious feed over the summer period.

Sheep liveweight gain and dairy milk production increase with increasing clover content in the diet

Bees are the most significant pollinator of clover in New Zealand, this pollination plays a vital role in the natural reseeding of white clover and subclover species. Such pasture renewal is increasing in importance due to damage caused by the clover root weevil.

With the virtual elimination of feral bee colonies through the introduction of the Varroa Mite into New Zealand, Phil says it is now up to managed colonies to provide this service to pastoral farmers. For example PPNZ has recently established hives on a farmer’s property that has not seen a bee for 4 years.

PPNZ supplies approximately 750 hives for pasture pollination. 380 hives are supplied for apple and stonefruit pollination, the majority of which are supplied through Arataki Honey.

PPNZ are Arataki Honey’s 2nd largest supplier, with approximately 45 MT of predominately clover honey per year.

Propolis is a resinous mixture of vegetable balsams, waxes, essential oils and pollen that bees collect from the buds, sap flows and other botanical sources. It is used by the bees to fill small gaps to keep cold air and rain out. Bees use it for polishing cells and general hive cleaning with its antibiotic and antifungal properties.

PPNZ collect high value medicinal grade propolis with specially designed propolis mats. This propolis is used to produce propolis lozenges and toothpaste.

PPNZ runs Italian honey bees and is actively improving its genetic stock to significantly increase yield, winter survival, placidness, disease and pest resistance. PPNZ uses artificially inseminated queen bees worth $1500 each, to raise its production queens and has recently taken a shareholding in the closed population breeding programme company Betta Bees Research Limited. We hope one day to produce a strain of bees that is resistance to the varroa mite.

PPNZ are active members of the NBA and find they provide significant value to the business and the beekeeping industry. Especially through industry representation to government and MAF. The NBA plays an important role in PPNZ’s access to research and development information.

PPNZ are actively seeking expansion activities throughout the country.