Honey and humble: Bee introductions, environment, and ideology in Aotearoa New Zealand, 1839-1900

Abstract

In the nineteenth century, bees were used as biological agents in the transformation of the Aotearoa New Zealand landscape by European settler colonists. This transformation adhered to visions that fit British religious, economic, and imperial ideals. These idealised attitudes were communicated through the development of narratives; about landscape, religion, bees, and of Europeans themselves. These idealised narratives served as a nexus of guiding ideologies. While bumblebees were physical instruments in the transformation of the landscape, honeybees served to reinforce both religious and industrial ideals. A variety of threads weave together to create this web of European ideologies, including gender, religion, and economics – all of which can be examined through the lens of bees. Ultimately, this thesis analyses the environmental transformation of the Aotearoa New Zealand landscape in the nineteenth century, specifically between 1839 and 1900, using bees as a cultural framework and tool to do so.