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Learn, How-To, Getting Started, Beekeeping 101

Ecrotek | Essential Spring Jobs for Kiwi Beekeepers

Spring is here – and a checklist of essential spring jobs Kiwi beekeepers need to do to keep their hives healthy – from Ecrotek

Learn, How-To, Getting Started, Beekeeping 101

Ecrotek | Essential Spring Prep for Kiwi Beekeepers

Gearing up for spring? Here’s how to get your hives ready, essential spring prep for Kiwi beekeepers – from Ecrotek.

How-To, Beekeeping 101

Ecrotek | How to Find Your Queen Bee

A beginner’s guide to queen spotting, and marking the queen bee in your hive.

Ecrotek | Our Favourite Honey Recipes

Make the most of your sweet harvest by using honey in baking, salads, dinners and drinks – our favourite honey recipes from Ecrotek

Learn, How-To, Getting Started, Beekeeping 101

Establishing Your Beekeeping Club – Where to Start

Can’t find a local beekeeping club to join? Here’s Ecrotek’s guide on where to start setting up your own.

How-To, Getting Started, Beekeeping 101

Extraction made easy

Spring signals the beginning of honey-making season for your bees. Towards the end of summer, your hives will be heaving with honey, and it will be time for your job – extraction. Extraction is a fairly simple process, but if you haven’t done it before, it can seem complicated. If you want to sell your honey, or export it, it gets trickier, so it’s good to work out what you need to do before you start. Here’s what you need to know:

How-To, Save the Bees

Gardening with bees in mind

Spring is the ideal time to revamp your garden and do some planting. If you’re a bee fan – whether you have hives or not – you might want to think about making your garden more attractive to bees. Of course, any flowering plant will bring in some bee activity, but there are some plants that are particularly appealing to the tiny foragers.

Learn, How-To, Getting Started, Beekeeping 101

Harvesting Propolis

Bees – they’re clever little things. As well as buzzing around making delicious honey, they’re also hard at work making a compound called propolis. Propolis is used as a sealant in their hives, as well as an embalming agent to cover surfaces. Propolis is also the bees’ disinfectant – one of nature’s most powerful antimicrobials, it cleans and sterilises the inside of the hive.

Heat and Honey don't mix

For many beekeepers, honey is considered liquid gold - but few often realize how complex honey really is. Heating honey is surprisingly controversial, while it’s true that overheating honey can kill off the enzymes and antioxidants that make it so beneficial, claims that heated honey is actually poisonous have yet to be proven.