We began the morning visiting Arataki Honey. Arataki Honey is the number one bee keeping business in the Southern Hemisphere, with 20,000 beehives across New Zealand. The company was established in 1944 and is run in two parts. The Hawke's Bay Division produces and packs honey for the local and export market, provides local pollination services and is the site of the Arataki Honey Visitors Centre. The Rotorua Division specializes in live bee exports, queen bees, packing honey and providing pollination services. At the visitor center, we had the opportunity to taste several different types of honey as well as purchase some to bring home to our families. Students also got to look at 5 bee hives and try to spot the queen bee that had a special marking on her, however we were only able to find one.
- Brooke Dondero and Danielle Sellers
After leaving Arataki Honey we traveled to Dannevirke to Garth and Wesley Coleman's sheep and beef farm. Over their 750 acres of steep rolling hills they manage roughly 1700 ewes along with 500 ewe lamb replacements and more than 240 Fresian bulls. The Coleman's raise their sheep primarily for fiber purposes with the intent of being sold to be made into carpet or other tougher materials as their Merino cross wool is coarser in its fiber. Upon arrival we were provided a delicious lunch by the family which consisted of their homegrown lamb, chicken and fresh salads. We were also given warm apple crumble topped with New Zealand's famous Hokey Pokey ice cream. After lunch we climbed to the top of one of their paddocks where we took in quite the view of rolling hills and green grass. While on top of the hill we experienced heavy winds and it was a daunting task to get a group photo. Then the Coleman's rounded up some sheep using their trained dogs and herded them into the shed to be sheared. We watched Garth shear a sheep with the common tools used in New Zealand. When it's time to shear the sheep, sheep shearers work eight hour days and can shear up to 400 sheep a day. They are paid $1.50 per head and provided food and tea every two hours. We really appreciated the hospitality and knowledge we were provided at the Coleman's and will remember it as one of our favorite stops on the north island.
- Hannah Lauffenburger and Colton Deckard
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