Stolen Kisses Honey

14/11/2025

😘

07/11/2025

Thank you to everyone who is making an effort to trap and report any findings. You're making more of a difference than you realise ... unlike the government and its slack agencies.

Yellow-Legged Hornet vs German Wasp 🐝
Here’s how to tell the difference, as they look very similar — but one’s a known pest, and the other’s a serious threat.

🔸 German Wasp (Vespula germanica)
– Smaller (about the size of a $1 coin)
– Bright yellow and black stripes
– Usually nests underground
– Annoying, but already common in NZ

🔸 Yellow-Legged Hornet (Vespa velutina)
– Bigger (around 24 mm long)
– Dark brown body with yellow legs
– Builds big paper nests high in trees
– New invader — kills honeybees and native pollinators

If you spot a wasp kill it, and if its a hornet with yellow legs, kill it and report it! 📞 Call Biosecurity NZ on 0800 80 99 66

27/10/2025

Oh Spring - what the actual heck! The joys (and maybe a touch of anxiety) beekeeping in Central Otago...

31/08/2025

Happy first day of Spring from Central Otago, New Zealand - yesterday was spent doing prep on some supers (honey boxes) for the season ahead. Painting helps make the supers more weather resistant to any extremes we might have. Obviously got the professional on the job ...
🐝

18/08/2025

Headed out this weekend to set up a former apiary site with two swarms caught early last season. The day was sitting at 9°C - it was a quick glance inside at both colonies but they are thriving; even a couple of fuzzy new ba-bees in the mix! This site is on the outskirts of Patearoa, a small Cental Otago settlement approximately 20 kilometres southwest of Ranfurly.
Two new colonies means two new queens:
Aphrodite 💘
Cleopatra 🐈‍⬛

12/02/2025

Thanks to the team at Off The Rails 2023 for helping save this bee-utiful swarm that decided to park next to the shop. They've been shifted to a new quarantine apiary site where they'll stay for the next two years (at least) to ensure they're disease-free.