Monofloral Honeys Part 6: the Remarkable Rata. New Zealand is famed for producing perhaps the world’s best known monofloral honey, manuka honey, which is prized for its inherent curative properties. However, the manuka myrtle, Leptospermum scoparium, is endemic to both
Bees and Eucalypts Part 1: An Iconic Aussie. Eucalypts are perhaps the defining characteristic of the Australian landscape. An ever-present and immediately recognisable cornerstone of the Aussie bush, oils held in the leaves also impart an unmistakeable medicinal aroma. There
Lighting the Way with Beeswax Candles The first candles were made of tallow and were manufactured by the Romans around 500 BC. Beeswax versions appeared around a hundred years later in China and Egypt and featured wicks made from rolled
Monofloral Honeys Part 5: Nutty Honey. Australia’s unique endemic vegetation has given rise to a diverse array of highly regarded monofloral honeys, but strangely there is one in particular that is more commonly produced overseas. There are four species of
Why are the honeybees dying? Australia has the best, healthiest bees in the world. That little fact fills me to the brim with the warm and fuzzies! This is especially fantastic considering that there is something lurking in the bee
Housel Positioning; a matter of perspective. The concept of Housel Positioning first seems to have surfaced in a lecture given by Dee Lusby in 2002 at the Alabama Beekeepers Convention. Lusby, a commercial beekeeper who favours organic practices, referenced a
Monofloral Honeys Part 4: the Wonder of Western Australia. Monofloral honeys from around the globe are in great demand from consumers, as each has its own distinctive characteristics: taste, colour, aroma, and perhaps other special properties. Monofloral honeys are produced
Monofloral Honeys Part 3: a Potent Aphrodisiac and a Crown of Thorns. Both Yemen and Morocco are notable for the production of euphorbia honey that has the unusual ability to cause a burning sensation in the throat, rather like chilli,
Monofloral Honeys Part 2: Counterfeit Cacti. While rare and unique monofloral honey with a distinctive melon flavour is produced from the imperious saguano cacti of Arizona and Mexico, and the prickly pears of southeastern Madagascar, there are some ‘cactus honeys’
Monofloral Honeys Part 1: Sweet Treats in the Wild West. Monofloral honey originates predominantly from a single plant species, which should constitute at least 75% of the nectar collected by the bees. Monofloral honeys are often the product of a
