High quality pollination is a vital step in producing high quality, superior tasting kiwifruit. Natural bee pollination remains the primary pollination method for ZESPRI® Kiwifruit, with bees being some of the hardest workers on the orchards visiting each flower up to 40 times.
ZESPRI actively works with New Zealand beekeepers to support their industry and funds research to safeguard the future of natural bee pollination. Specific initiatives in the past year include:
- Project Hyper Hive, a project run in cooperation with the Beekeepers Association of New Zealand, promotes best practice for ensuring high quality pollination hives;
- Investigating with partners potential Varroa mite control strategies for the beekeeping industry; and
- Production of reference materials for kiwifruit growers, highlighting the importance of care of bee hives on the orchard.