Ahakoa e taketake ana ngā pī o Aotearoa ki tēnei whenua, he rerekē tonu ki ngā pī mīere o whenua kē. Ka noho kē ā tātou pī ki roto i te one o Papatūānuku, kaua ki rō whare pī, kāore hoki rātou e whakaputa mīere pērā i ētahi atu pī mīere.
Hei tā ngā kōrero, i mauria mai e tētahi wahine Pākehā ngā whare pī e rua ki Aotearoa i te 19 o Maehe, i te tau 1839, ka tau ai ki tētahi whare mīhana, ki Māngunu i te Hokianga-nui-a-Kupe. Nō muri ka mauria mai e tētahi tangata Wīwī ētahi atu whare pī ki te whanga o Ipipiri.
I rata ngā pī mīere ki te Wao Nui a Tāne, nāwai rā ka rea haere rātou i te rohe o Te Tai Tokerau, ā, pukahu ana te whakaputaina o te mīere.
Nā tēnei āhuatanga i noho ai ko te hokohoko mīere hei mahi matua mā ngā Māori o Te Tai Tokerau. Ko rātou ngā kaitiaki pī mīere tuatahi o Aotearoa. Beehives/native NZ bee
Inā noa atu ngā pūkenga auaha o ō tātou tīpuna! “Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi.”
AUDIO FILE
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Although the bees of New Zealand are native to this land, they are very different to honey bees from other countries. Our bees live in the soil of Papatūānuku, not in beehives, and they don’t produce honey like other honey bees do.
According to the stories handed down, a European lady brought two beehives to New Zealand on the 19th of March, 1839, settling in a mission home in Māngunu, which is in Hokianga-nui-a-Kupe. Afterwards, a French man also brought some beehives to the Bay of Islands.
The bees really loved the native forest, and it wasn’t long before they were found in large numbers in the Northern region, and there came an abundance of honey.
It was for this reason that selling honey became a main source of income for a lot of Māori from the Northern region. They were the first guardians of honey bees in New Zealand.
Weren’t our ancestors so entrepreneurial!
“With your contribution, and my contribution, the people will flourish”
