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The Bee Bloke

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The Bee Bloke

Pure NZ raw Honey harvested right here in Hawkes Bay. Minimal processing - straight from the hive to the jar!

01/02/2026

🌻Yesterday we visited two lots of sunflowers in central Hawkes Bay that were open to the public.

🐝The bees (& bumblebees) were absolutely loving them! The sunflowers provide plenty of nectar & pollen for the bees, & the bees pollinate the flowers, which increases crop yields.

1️⃣The first was Ludlow Farm, just out of Ōtāne. Ludlow is a working farm, they grow numerous crops & had about 50 acres of sunflowers which were stunning! Their sunflowers will be harvested & the seeds used to make sunflower oil (from memory the seeds are sold to The Good Oil company)🌻

2️⃣The second stop was Bel Group dairy farms, in Ashley Clinton, about a 50 minute drive from Hastings. Their sunflowers are not grown to be harvested, but for people to come along & enjoy for free. While on a smaller scale, they're still open over the next few weekends, whereas most of the others around Hawkes Bay have now closed for the season.

27/01/2026

✨️Before Christmas we planted some of our 'Bee friendly wildflower seed mix' along the edge of our gravel driveway, amongst other flowers that have self seeded there 🔆

🌱We can see a number of different plants growing so far, but the plant that has really taken off is the Buckwheat! Buckwheat plants have heart shaped leaves & produce clusters of small white-pink flowers which provide a great nectar source for bees (see the photo below, taken yesterday) 🐝🐝

A few facts about Buckwheat⤵️:
▪️It is very fast growing - from when the seed is planted you'll see flowers in 4-6 weeks
▪️It grows well in poor soil conditions & will grow where most other plants won't
▪️It will actually help to improve the soil quality if composted back into the ground
▪️It is a self seeding annual, which means they will grow back again the following year

✴️Probably more commonly known as a food source - Buckwheat is a very nutrient rich food, you can eat the seeds & it is used to make buckwheat flour, oats, noodles etc (despite it's name, it is not actually a wheat - & it is gluten free).

✨️But we've of course planted them for the flowers to help attract more bees 🐝 🐝

📍You can purchase our 'Bee friendly wildflower seed mixes' from Handmade in the Bay store - they're located at 259 Emerson Street in Napier (the main shopping street).

09/01/2026

It is hot in Hawke's Bay this week, with temperatures forecast for 36 degrees later in the week! 🥵

💦 Like us, bees (& other insects) need water too, & not just when it's hot, all year round.

⬇️ If you're interested in providing water for bees, these are a few key things to consider:

▪️Bees are not good swimmers & need safe places to land while drinking

▪️A shallow dish is ideal, place rocks in it so they can drink without falling in. If you have a bird bath, place a few large rocks in it (that stick out higher than the water level), something that will float on the water, or even a few sticks that they can climb on to if they do fall in

▪️Place the water in a sunny position (they don't like cold water) ☀️

▪️Consistency is key - ensure the water is kept in the same location & there is always water in it. Once bees find a reliable water source they will continue to return to it

▪️Other insects will appreciate it too! 🐞🦋

💡Fun fact: Bees like chlorinated & salt water, so will often try & drink out of a swimming pool! 🏊‍♂️

🐝 Bees like to drink dirty water & where rain water collects - think muddy puddles, dams, rivers etc - they actually prefer these spots over plain water because they get vital nutrients from these sources.

02/01/2026

✨️Happy New Year everyone!✨

We stopped in to Handmade in the Bay store a few days ago to stock up our honey 🍯

✨️Currently available to purchase there are our:
- 60 gram glass honey jars
- 220 gram & 370 gram bear shaped squeezy bottles

They also stock our ⤵️
- Bee friendly wildflower seed mixes
- Honey & Vanilla sugar scrub

✨️You can find the store in the main shopping street:
📍259 Emerson Street, Napier
🕙 Open 7 days over summer (10am-4pm Monday to Saturday & 10am-3pm Sunday)

24/12/2025

🎅 Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas!

Thank you very much to everyone that has purchased products from me this year 🙂

🍯We'll be stocking up with more honey at Handmade in the Bay in a few days!!

15/12/2025

🇳🇿 You know it's summer time in New Zealand when the Pohutukawa trees are in bloom!

☀️Have you noticed there are more bees about with the warmer weather? This is mainly because spring & summer bring an abundance of flowering plants (nectar sources).

The Pohutukawa in this photo was literally buzzing with the sound of all the bees on the flowers - mainly New Zealand native bees (different looking to the honey bee - we actually have around 28 different species of native bees in New Zealand!).

11/11/2025

🇦🇺Check out this new native bee species which was recently discovered in Australia - it has a distinctive horn (but only on the female bee) & has been named 'Lucifer'.

📍It was discovered in an area where there is also an endangered wildflower in the Bremer Ranges in Western Australia (470km east of Perth).

↪️The researchers have called for the area to be formally protected. Read more in the article below:⤵️

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c051yjv90dmo

27/09/2025

👋 Hi everyone from the Bee Bloke 🐝 Hope everyone is enjoying the warmer Spring weather!🌞 Apologies I haven't been very active on here lately, life has been rather hectic 🫠

👉I wanted to let you know that now is the perfect time to get our Bee Bloke Wildflower seed mixes in the ground!

🌼 A blend of plants high in nectar & pollen for bees & insects
🌼 Includes around 20 varieties of flowers & herbs
🌼 A mix of both annuals & perennials
🌼 1 pack is enough to cover around 10 square metres

📍We stock our seed packs at Handmade in the Bay store (259 Emerson Street, Napier).
🕙They currently open from 10am-4pm Tuesday to Saturday

📬 We're considering the option of posting these out to anyone interested so please do let us know if this would appeal!

18/08/2025

Heard the saying about "a spoonful of honey a day"? Some people swear by it! Now that we're in the midst of winter & there are coughs & colds about, let's look at some of the health benefits of honey, specifically for helping to support coughs & colds.

How can honey help? ⤵️
✅️ Soothes the throat - the thick consistency of honey can help to coat & soothe a sore throat
✅️ Reduces coughing - research suggests that honey can help with coughing, specifically night time coughing
✅️ Can help reduce congestion when mixed with hot liquids (think tea or lemon water) 🍋

You can purchase The Bee Bloke honey:
Handmade in the Bay store
📍259 Emerson Street, Napier

25/07/2025

You can purchase our Honey & Vanilla sugar scrub from Handmade in the Bay store, a 200 gram tub retails for $15.00.

The sugar gently exfoliates, & the added ingredients of honey, coconut & jojoba oil nourish & moisturise, leaving your skin feeling soft & smooth 🥥🍯

🩵 Handmade in small batches
♻️ And it's environmentally friendly!

📍 Handmade in the Bay - 259 Emerson Street, Napier

24/07/2025

Meet the largest bee on earth:👇

The Wallace's giant bee - it can grow up to 4.5cm long with a wingspan of up to 6cm!

🌏It lives on the North Moluccas Islands in Indonesia.

With only ever three published sightings - Firstly in 1858 by British naturalist Alfred Wallace. Thought to be extinct, it was rediscovered in 1981 by American Entomologist Adam Messer. It was not spotted for over 27 years, then in 2019 a single female was discovered on a nest by a search team from The Search for Lost Species. This was the first time the bee had been photographed & filmed in the wild (the YouTube video below is a short story about the expedition team finding it in 2019):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rPuhg58PXcs&pp=0gcJCYQJAYcqIYzv

📷The photo below shows the size difference between a standard honey bee & the Wallace's giant bee:

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