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Source: NZPA / R Tucker
Demand for New Zealand bees to pollinate horticultural and agricultural crops overseas is high.
National Beekeepers Association CEO Jim Edwards says around 30,000 kilograms of live bees are exported each year.
He says they are desperately needed in the Northern Hemisphere especially in Canada, but there is also huge demand in America and Europe.
Edwards says bees are crucial to New Zealand's primary sector, underpinning $3 billion worth of earnings through horticultural and agricultural pollination.
Bee populations in New Zealand have been hard hit by the varroa mite which has been in the country for about seven years.
The mite infiltrates hives and feeds off bee larvae, wiping out bees in their millions.
Edwards saying bees can no longer survive without human intervention and wants to create a wider understanding of the importance of the honey bee.
Bee awareness is currently in the spotlight as part of Bee Week
which runs from May 4-8.
