Science, innovation and commitment to the apiculture industry were recognised at Apiculture New Zealand’s annual conference.

The Roy Paterson Trophy which acknowledges the best innovative idea, invention or technology in beekeeping was awarded to Veritaxa and Analytica Laboratories for their Classifynder system.  This system uses robotics, image processing and neural network technology to count and classify microscopic objects like pollen grains.

The ApiNZ Peter Molan Award for Excellence in Apiculture Science was won by Pike Stahlmann-Brown of Landcare Research who has been dedicated in his commitment to industry research, particularly the NZ Colony Loss Survey.

The Unsung Hero Award, also known as ‘The Buzziest Bee ’, went to Stuart Fraser of Natural Sugars to acknowledge his tireless work for the NZ Apprenticeship in Apiculture scheme.

Roy Paterson Trophy: Professor Emeritus Bob Hodgson (Veritaxa), Steve Howse (Analytica), Mike Jones (Pharmapac) John Berry (Berry Bees)

ApiNZ Unsung Hero Award ‘Buzziest Bee’: Young Mee Yoon (Manuka Doctor), Stuart Fraser (chair of ApiNZ Education and Skills Focus Group), Bruce Wills (ApiNZ)