FAQ's

Where can I buy your honey and beeswax?

  • You can buy honey from The Beekeeper® direct from this site here, or visit us at markets in Port Macquarie, or purchase from our many wonderful stockists. Our brands include The Beekeeper®, Honey & Earth® and Bees & Us®. Thank you!

 Do you supply honey, Australian manuka and beeswax wholesale and for export?

  • Yes, we do. For honey and beeswax wholesale enquiries please contact us and let us know a bit about your company and customer needs and we can go from there.

 

About Manuka Honey

Here are some of the most common questions we get asked about what Manuka is good for, and reasons to buy Manuka honey from Australia.

What actually is manuka honey?

  • Manuka honey is the medicinal honey bees produce after feeding on the Manuka plant (also know in Australia as jellybush honey, and sometimes as tea tree honey).
  • Manuka honey is produced from the Leptospermum species of plants. Leptospermum scoparium is one of more than 80 species found in Australia, but the only one found in New Zealand, with the NZ species originating in Australia (Fleming 1975, Thompson 1989, Van Eaton 2014).

What are the benefits of Manuka honey?

  • Manuka honey has unique and powerful antimicrobial (ie: germ fighting) and nutritional properties.
  • It is used as a wound dressing (in humans and pets) against infections including golden staph.
  • Manuka honey can slowly add hydrogen peroxide to a wound, while also drawing out moisture, making it very difficult for bacteria to survive.
  • Manuka honey can also be good for skin conditions, sore throats, gingivitis, mouth ulcers, sore gums, gastric upsets like indigestion.
  • Manuka honey contains prebiotics and it may also support a healthy gut.
  • One of the most amazing things about the antibacterial activity of Manuka honey is that although bacteria that cause serious infections can develop resistance to modern antibiotics (which is how they become superbugs), they cannot develop resistance to the activity of Manuka honey. (Blair et al 2009)

What's the difference between Australian Manuka honey and Manuka honey from New Zealand?

  • For starters, Australian beekeepers do not need to use miticides in our beehives as we do not have the pest varroa mite in this country. That means Australian Manuka is free of any potential miticide residue so your honey is extra pure.
  • Australia has more than 80 species of the plant (leptospermum species) that produces Manuka, and though NZ's Professor Peter Nolan first discovered the activity levels and medical properties of Manuka honey in some fantastic Kiwi research, Australian scientists have since discovered more than 10 additional Leptospermum species native to Australia that naturally produce active Manuka honey. Research also found that some of these Australian honeys are the most powerfully active Manuka honeys in the world.  (Cokcetin et al, 2016; Windsor et al 2012).

How do I know what Manuka honey companies to trust?

Always look for the Australian Manuka Honey Association (AMHA) mark of authenticity. All active Australian Manuka honey that carries this mark must be pure natural honey, produced entirely in Australia, and must be tested by an independent approved laboratory (each batch of The Beekeeper's Honey Manuka is tested by the Honey Lab at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland). As well as testing for MGO and DHA levels, the lab also checks for leptosperin, a naturally occurring chemical found only in the nectar or Manuka Pants. to ensure that it meets the minimum following criteria when packed:

  1. > 85mg/kg (or ppm) methylglyoxal (MGO)
  2. > 170mg/kg (or ppm) dihydroxyacetone (DHA)
  3. > 50g/kg (or ppm) leptosperin  

What do all the different strengths mean?

  • Think of Manuka honey ratings along the lines of suncreen ratings - some sunscreens like SPF5+ offer a certain amount of sun protection, whereas a sunscreen with a rating of SPF30+ offers a lot more. This is the idea behind the strength ratings of Manuka honey.

How do you compare NPA®, UMF and MGO when buying manuka honey?

  • NPA/UMF® 5+     = around MGO 83
  • NPA/UMF® 10+   = around MGO 263
  • NPA/UMF® 15+   = around MGO 514
  • NPA/UMF® 20+   = around MGO 829

What's the difference between NPA®, UMF and MGO?

  • MGO is the shortened version of the word methylglyoxal. Methylglyoxal is the "secret sauce" of Manuka, it's the naturally occurring antibacterial compound that makes Manuka honey special.
  • UMF® is the registered trademark of the UMF® Honey Association of New Zealand while NPA (non-peroxide activity) is used in Australia to describe the unique antimicrobial activity of manuka honey.
  • UMF® and NPA (non-peroxide activity) are the equivalent of each other when tested by an appropriate laboratory where special equipment measures the levels of MGO

Is Manuka Honey delicious? What does Manuka honey taste like?

  • Though some people enjoy eating Manuka (it's quite strong and can be grainy, thick and creamy), most people prefer our table honey range for enjoyment. As beekeepers, we definitely use Manuka for medicinal purposes but will always pick a different type of honey for our toast and tea!