Manuka Honey

The Manuka trees located in the New Zealand mountains where this type of honey is produced gave this product its moniker, Manuka Honey. To ensure that production of enough honey matches the strong market demand, producers have placed numerous beehives in this area. Since Manuka trees are known for being antibacterial trees, many people think that Manuka honey can be utilized for therapeutic purposes. This notion genuinely explains why there has been a rising demand for this honey on the market. The vendors are raising their pricing in response to the rising demand, which benefits both them and the producers. This paper seeks to evaluate some of the sustainable issues related to the production of Manuka honey and their implications for the future of this product is a solution is not established.

Sustainable issues related to production of Manuka Hotel

There are several issues related to the production of Manuka honey. First and foremost, the health of bees has been a concern that bee farmers are dealing with on a daily basis. The outbreak of foulbrood (a deadly bee disease) has given these farmers a hard time and challenge of containing it. Due to this failure, swarms of bees have died leading to a low production of honey. The intervention by the Apiculture sector has however seen cases of foulbrood reduce. Bee experts as well have intervened and on their advice and teaching programs about beekeeping have been an important course towards keeping a health bee production industry.

Poor bee management and production skills is also another problem noticeable in the production of Manuka honey. The regions where this honey is produced are in the interior (the mountain regions of New Zealand) where most farmers are still embracing the traditional bee keeping methods. Actually, poor bee management skills are some of the reasons the most often dreadful bee disease, foulbrood. In regards to poor production skills, poor production procedure including packaging has led to spoiling and spilling of honey before it reaches the vendors and other dealers. According to Keralem, poor management and production skills has been the main reasons for the recent reduction in the supply of Manuka honey.

In addition to the above issues, the theft of beehives has also been another issue affecting the production of Manuka honey. Bee farmers say that the problem has been there before, but the recent cases are extremely the worst to be realized. Hives are being stolen on a daily basis compared to previous cases that usually happened once in a while. Measures to provide security have actually failed as these mountainous regions are characterized by frequents showers during the nights.

Lastly, the inability of the government not to get involved in the production process is also a problem that bee farmers are experiencing. In other countries where been farming has flourished, the government out to have intervened in one way or another, either through policies and regulations or giving a hand in the production process. The international market for Manuka honey is slowly declining due to this inability of the government to intervene in the production of this product.

Future Implications

All the above are expected to take Manuka to a more devastating level if measures are not taken. For instance, there will be little or no production of honey which will not only affect the farmers, but also the natives as well as the government since it has been a stable source of revenue through taxes. Actually, if the above issues are not rectified the Manuka honey production industry is at a risk of declining.

In conclusion, the Manuka honey production is faced with quite some issues that require the unified attention of bee farmers, experts, the apiculture ministry and the government. The association of this three individual identities will actually revive the industry and take it to another level of production.

References

Israili, ZH (2014). Antimicrobial properties of honey. American journal of therapeutics.21 (4): 304-23.

Keralem E (2005). Honeybee production system, opportunities, and challenges (Amhara Region).

Tessega (2009). Honeybee production and marketing systems. Buries District of Amhara Region.