Raw Unpasteurized Honey

Shane tends to around 200 hives that produce several varieties of honey from nectar gathered from Northland’s native plants and flowers.  The raw unpasteurized honey undergoes rigorous testing and laboratory analysis before being potted in hygienic MPI approved premises.

All our honey has been lab tested and is glyphosate-free!

 

About Our Bees:

Each hive has one queen bee who can lay her own body weight in eggs each day.  She is the only fertile bee in the hive.

Queen bees live for around three years, whereas the rest of the bees in the hive only live for a couple of months.

A bee Is born! Female bee- Week one:

Young female bees are responsible for feeding the larvae and for regulating the temperature of the hive, which must be maintained at 35 degrees.  When it is cold the bees huddle and quiver their muscles to create heat. When it gets too hot they distribute water drops and fan their wings to cool by evaporation.

Female bee - week two:

Middle aged female bees are in the role of repair, maintenance and security.  They make the waxy combs and repair any damage. They also clear debris from the hive and guard the entrance, keeping out potential honey robbers from other hives. 

Female bee - Week three:

The final stage of a female bee’s life is out in the bush gathering nectar and making honey. They do this for around a month before they die.

The male bee:

So what do the male bees do? The males just sit around the hive eating honey.  Their only purpose is to replace the queen if she dies (which isn’t as good as it sounds as the males abdomen gets ripped off when he mates).  In the winter if the honey stores get too low the worker females will evict them from the hive to reserve their stores. The males will likely die once they are out of the hive as they have no idea how to feed themselves.