Bee health and nutrition will be under the spotlight at a trees for bees conference starting in Gisborne on Friday.
The conference is being held at Eastwoodhill Arboretum, where Landcare Research scientist Dr Linda Newstrom-Lloyd has been investigating what tree species deliver the best nutrition for bees.
Like humans, bees need a balanced diet, which they obtain from diverse sources of pollen and nectar.
Nutritional stress has been identified as one of the factors behind large-scale bee losses reported overseas.
National Beekeepers Association president Barry Foster says bee nutrition may be starting to come under pressure in some places in New Zealand too.
"Anecdotally, I would say certain areas of New Zealand are becoming overstocked with bees, and the natural resource is likely to be overloaded particularly at some critical times of the year like in spring and autumn."
Mr Foster says areas of intensive agriculture such as the Canterbury Plains and parts of Waikato have less bee forage available. The conference will look at plant species providing good sources of nectar and pollen which farmers can use.
The association will work with the Primary Industries Ministry on a bee health survey later this year, he says.
