Bees Up Top

Did you know that bees only make one quarter of a teaspoon of honey in their lifetime! Think about how many bees it takes to make one jar!

How did Bees Up Top come about?

Bees Up Top came to be when I realised that bees were being exterminated as pests. One third of the food we eat is pollinated by bees. They are already under a lot of stress from pesticides, disease, and planting of mono-cultures, so I felt compelled to do something to stop our pollinators from being exterminated.

How much does it cost to get the bees rescued from one’s home or premises?

Bees Up Top rescues bees for FREE! We are in touch with exterminators all over Auckland who call us instead of poisoning the bees, if a swarm lands in your backyard or makes a home in the wall of your house, we will rescue it for free too.

Why did you decide to re-home the bees on the rooftop of Auckland city?

I decided to re-home them on the rooftops of Auckland city because cities are a safe haven for bees due to less competition for food and no crops being sprayed with pesticides. It was the perfect way to raise awareness about the extinction of bees and the bees get the best views in town! Did you know that a bee will fly 5km to find food? Auckland city is full of food for bees because of all the parks, gardens and residents’ balconies and backyards that are in bloom all year round.

How does the rescue process work and what are the benefits?

Once the bees are rescued I take them to The Bee Sanctuary at Bethells Beach to rehabilitate before being re-homed. Rescue hives are placed on the rooftops of businesses and in the backyards of people's homes and I am the beekeeper who checks the hive once a month. I always bring extra suits along to educate staff or families during inspections. Each Christmas I extract the raw honey and give it to the them in personalised jars.

What makes the honey you sell so different?

The honey that I sell comes from pockets all over Auckland. Each has a distinctive flavour, smell and texture depending on where the bees forage nectar from. For example, the Coatesville honey is woody and almost caramel like because the bees forage in the surrounding farmlands and native bush. Whereas the Parnell honey has a lighter, more floral note with hints of blossom because the bees forage in the Parnell Rose Gardens. The Lavender nectar is collected from the hives at Lavender Hill Farm. When you open these hives, waves of the Lavender scent drift out of the hive and take over the smell of the smoker! It's delicious! There are no processes between it coming out of the hive and going into the jar. That means all of the goodness is left in the honey instead of being pasteurized (like supermarket honey), especially the pollen that is so good for our health.

What are some of Bees Up Top’s goals?

Bees Up Top is a small business with big goals. Education about the importance of bees is the passion that drives our business. 80% of honey proceeds go back into building new homes (hives) for rescued bees and we run free kids’ classes during the school holidays to educate our future generation on how necessary bees are to human survival. All of our packaging is recyclable/compostable and we don’t use plastic. We also have an option to return used honey jars because we are very aware of our environmental footprint.

What do you love most about Bees Up Top?

I run Bees Up Top by myself with the help of my husband, Luke, on the weekends. He's a builder and helps me make hive roofs and we construct frames together. It truly is the best job in the world because bees are so mesmerizing and it's good to know that Bees Up Top is making a difference.