Our Heros

Honey bees are the hero of our story at Comvita, not only producing precious and healing Mānuka Honey that we get to share with the world, but also serving as the most important pollinator of our global food supply. 

Bees directly pollinate 1/3 of all the food we eat.

This includes 133 types of fruits and vegetables as well as:

• Cotton and flax (linen) we wear
• Coffee we drink
• Nuts & seeds we eat, from peanut butter to almond milk
• Spices we use
• Wine we drink
• Cut flowers we buy
• Clover, alfalfa, & soybeans our dairy and meat animals consume
• Broad leaf trees we use for timber and building materials
• PLUS They help our trees grow... helping to produce oxygen and allow us to breathe!

But the story of bees does not end there!

There are over 20,000 native bee species globally, each unique in shape, colour, behaviour, habitat, and family structure. Some are smaller than a grain of rice, some make homes out of leaves and mud, some are bright blue! The diversity and curiosity of this family of native bees is truly mind boggling.

These highly specialised insects have closely evolved to pollinate native flowering plants and play a critical role in pollinating our native ecosystems globally. Bees are truly an indicator species for a healthy landscape and an intact environment.

Here in Aotearoa, New Zealand, we have 28 species of solitary native bees which are very small in size and nest in clay banks during the spring and summer months. They can often be seen quickly harvesting nectar from the New Zealand Christmas tree, Pōhutukawa, in the peak of summer.

Here are 3 easy ways to support diverse bee species in your community:

1. Plant flowers and flowering trees! Perhaps you don’t have your own patch of earth to establish a garden but even a few herb plants on a balcony or at a local school or community garden make a difference to our pollinators, providing food as they navigate the landscape. Choose native plants when possible and untreated seeds. Search “best plants for pollinators (your location/ region)”
2. Stop spraying pesticides and herbicides. Even home use and “organic” pesticides can damage local bee populations. If you must spray, never spray flowering blooms during sunlight hours and always follow the printed instructions exactly.
3. Take time to smell the flowers and watch the bees. Go out into nature and observe bees for yourself! Share what you notice and have learned with loved ones. Join a citizen science project. Curiosity leads to advocacy, and this is especially important to foster in our next generation nature lovers.