For the first time New Zealand has a voice on the board of the international bee-keeping federation, Apimondia.
Maureen Maxwell has the new role of regional president for the Oceania Commission of Apimondia, a Rome-based body, which she describes as the United Nations of the bee world.
As well as having a long association with the food and wine industry as a chef and vineyard founder, she is a honey marketer and has been on the executive of the National Beekeepers Association.
She says being an advocate for New Zealand on issues such as bee health and biosecurity is even more important at a time when bees are under threat globally from colony collapse, pests and diseases, pesticides and loss of habitat.
