{"id":625,"date":"2020-04-07T22:06:35","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T22:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wharehoney.co.nz\/?page_id=625"},"modified":"2020-09-10T00:24:30","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T00:24:30","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wharehoney.co.nz\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
Whare Honey a 100% iwi owned organisation based in Te Awamutu, New Zealand. The business was originally started as a family run beekeeping business \u2013 in 2008, after more than 40 years of being hobby apiarist, Rapanui Bees Limited was formed. In 2018, Ngati Whare purchased the business and Whare Honey Limited Partnership was born.<\/p>\n
Our beekeepers have a raw passion for bees and honey production \u2013 this together with their expertise as apiarists creates the perfect environment for quality, ecofriendly and socially responsible honey. Our team strongly believe in doing things as close to nature as possible and we market both creamed and raw honey to meet varied consumer demand. The raw honey is straight from the bee and can be disconcerting for those of you who have never eaten it before, but it is especially delicious. It will crystallise over time but this is a natural process easily reversed by gently warming in the sun or some other cosy space.<\/p>\n
Our work practices are bee friendly and although we do have to meet normal business targets we try and do this without exploiting our lovely furry little partners. We don\u2019t transport our bees to commercial crop pollination and while some of our hives are moved to M\u0101nuka fields the remainder stay at home to enjoy the bee heaven here in the Waikato.<\/p>\n
We harvest our honey gently with escape boards, making sure we look after the bees and leave some of their own supplies of honey and pollen as natural winter supplies. We replace our queens on a regular cycle to ensure hives stay healthy and virile, using our own queens that we grow in special incubator hives. Keeping a strong genetic mix is important helping to maintain the strength and honey gathering potential of each hive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t Our bees are mostly located on organic sites or farms where there is no use of pesticides or chemical sprays, however because they can fly over 5 kilometres to gather food we don\u2019t always know what they are up to! They have lots of natural wildflowers to collect nectar from: red and white clover, chicory, dandelion, buttercup, and fruit trees such as plums, apples, peaches and pears. They can also collect nectar from a wide variety of native tree flowers such as rata, hoheria, five finger, tawa and lemonwood. Herbs like rosemary and thyme are included as well, plus roses, barberry, flaxes, gorse and blackberry.<\/p>\n Our bush honey hives are scattered around the sacred mountain, Maungatautari, a 3,400 hectare mainland ecological island and wildlife bird reserve. This reserve is predator fenced which has allowed the bush to revert to its natural state, so again the bees have a feast of native flowers to feed on. This is where we collect our Rewarewa honey with it\u2019s beautiful deep rich amber colour and delicious caramel flavour. It is perfect to use in asian-style dishes or for desserts, and as an added bonus the honey contains high levels of antioxidants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n In the summer we take some hives to m\u0101nuka fields. Again, the farmers here do not spray and the bees fly free to gather m\u0101nuka nectar over the short flowering season, in the heat of summer. M\u0101nuka honey takes on the flavours of the region the hives are situated in, much like how a good red wine reflects the ground the vines have grown in. It is always exciting at harvest time having the first taste. M\u0101nuka honey also contains methylglyoxal, a compound found in most types of honey but usually in only small quantites. In New Zealand m\u0101nuka honey, the methylglyoxal levels are uniquely high. The higher the concentration of methylglyoxal, the stronger the antibiotic effect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n We bring all our hives back in the autumn to farms and bush land close to our home base at Parawera. This makes it easy for us to check that they are happy and healthy, top up their food supplies when needed and attend to other housekeeping duties. These duties include painting the hives, cleaning the bottom boards and replacing old dark wax frames with nice new, fresh golden combs. We make sure our bees are safely snuggled down for the winter, then leave them to rest up before the annual cycle starts again in early spring.about us<\/h6>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Our Honey<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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M\u0101nuka<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Winter<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\nOur winters are mild with some frost, autumns are clear and crisp while summers are long and hot. The air is clear, there is no pollution of any kind and this reflects in the beautiful honey our bees produce.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n about us<\/h6>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Our Kaupapa<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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