In a few hours we’re heading off, on one last trip… to start collecting the honey.

We were up at 4:30 for the long trip. The scenery along the coast was gorgeous as we drove past four hour of beaches and coast.

The beehives will spend [...]]]> Yesterday was the big day where we moved the beehives from here in Tauranga, out to the most eastern coast in the world.

We were up at 4:30 for the long trip. The scenery along the coast was gorgeous as we drove past four hour of beaches and coast.

The beehives will spend about six weeks here, gathering Manuka Honey for our clients. Then we’ll move them far inland to another nectar flow.

Each beehive helps to protect the native forest.

After a couple of hours sweating it out in the bee suits, we went for a quick swim at this deserted beach by Cape Runaway.

Here’s some examples we recently saw of Manuka trees that have been killed off.

Each beehive encourages farmers to preserve two hectares of these native trees.

It’s early spring here in New Zealand.

The bees have basically been in hibernation over winter. It was too cold for them to do anything, so they just huddled up into a tight ball and kept warm.

Darcy [...]]]> The beekeeping diaries will give you the inside story on collecting Manuka Honey from New Zealand’s remote forests.

It’s early spring here in New Zealand.

The bees have basically been in hibernation over winter. It was too cold for them to do anything, so they just huddled up into a tight ball and kept warm.

Darcy looking after the beehives.

Now the days are starting to warm up. The bees aren’t ready to get to work yet, but they’re starting to think about it. We’re getting warm sunny days, but the nights are still cold and there is an occasional frost.

We’re checking on all the beehives to see how they’ve done over winter. This means off road driving to the winter sites around the countryside.

We’re also feeding them a little bit. We try to feed our bees as little as possible, because sugar isn’t very good for them. Honey keeps them healthy (especially Active Manuka Honey) so instead of taking every last bit, we leave some for them to live on over the winter.

The purpose of the sugar feeding is to start getting them stimulated for summer. It will encourage the queen to start laying more eggs. She’ll want a large colony ready to start collecting when the nectar starts to flow.

We want her to build up the beehive, so we can split it and start a new hive for our partnership clients. The new hives will be started over the next few months of spring.

More on that later.

Keep buzzing.

Press Release

Exclusive Manuka Honey from Your Own Beehive in New Zealand

Honey connoisseurs are in for a treat – the chance to own a beehive and receive their own exclusive brand of Active Manuka Honey, sent worldwide.

Discerning foodies who sign up with Your Pure Honey will, for one year, become partners in their [...]]]> 25 August 2009

Press Release

Exclusive Manuka Honey from Your Own Beehive in New Zealand

Honey connoisseurs are in for a treat – the chance to own a beehive and receive their own exclusive brand of Active Manuka Honey, sent worldwide.

Discerning foodies who sign up with Your Pure Honey will, for one year, become partners in their own beehive – they collect the delicious proceeds, while Your Pure Honey does all the work.

The honey they receive in May will be collected solely from that one hive – no blending allowed.

Your Pure Honey is the brainchild of beekeeper Darcy Beehre and his business partner Luke Foster.

“We’re trying to provide a luxury experience that’s totally unique and personal,” says Beehre.

“Normal honey is blended to provide a flavour that’s consistent, but a bit bland. However, each beehive has its own unique flavour, and because they receive the product of just one hive, each of our clients will get a rich, healthy honey that nobody else has.”

From this week, honey-lovers from all over the world can sign up at . There they can buy a one-year stake in a beehive – ranging from exclusive rights to a 10 per cent share – which will produce honey for them from September to May.

They will also be able to follow the progress of their bees through a personal website and will receive a DVD showing their beehive in its natural surroundings.

The chemical-free beehives, which only use organic materials, are moved to remote sites around New Zealand to gather the best nectar from isolated native forests, far away from any urban or rural sources of pollution.

Through the DVD and the website honey lovers will be able to trace their hive’s journey, and see exactly where their honey comes from. They will also see how Active Manuka Honey, with its powerful antibacterial and healing properties, is produced and gathered.

As well as being an incredibly health-giving food, the Active Manuka Honey from Your Pure Honey also has a positive effect on the environment. Each beehive provides the funds to sustain 2ha (5 acres) of natural forest. That makes a large difference to each owner’s carbon footprint.

“This is honey with a story,” says Foster. “It’s not just buying a health food – it’s about connecting with the authentic source and knowing that the food you consume is good not just for you, but also for the planet.”

Your Pure Honey has a limit of 100 beehives so Beehre and Foster can provide personal care and ensure each hive produces the finest quality Active Manuka Honey.

It offers three levels of ownership: Premium Partnership provides sole rights to a hive and all the honey it produces (about 40 500g jars); Syndicate Partnership provides a quarter share (about 10 500g jars); and Community Partnership provides a one-tenth share (about four 500g jars).

Your Pure Honey can also package the Active Manuka Honey as gifts, complete with extra DVDs and photos, to surprise clients, friends and family with a truly unique gift.

Ends

For more details see www.YourPureHoney.com or contact Luke Foster at info@yourpurehoney.com or +64 7 218 0278 or by mobile +64 21 241 5330.

We’re pleased to announce we’re launching this exciting new opportunity this week.

Now’s your chance to sign up for your own exclusive beehive, with all the Manuka Honey sent to you. We’ve only made 100 beehives available, so we don’t know how long they will last.

We’ll use this blog to keep you [...]]]> Welcome to Your Pure Honey!

We’re pleased to announce we’re launching this exciting new opportunity this week.

Now’s your chance to sign up for your own exclusive beehive, with all the Manuka Honey sent to you. We’ve only made 100 beehives available, so we don’t know how long they will last.

We’ll use this blog to keep you up to date with the latest Your Pure Honey news, and give you a bit of an inside story about out beekeeping adventures.

You can follow us on Twitter to keep up with the very latest.