New book on background behind Manuka honey

Manuka - the biography of an extraordinary honey - is the title of a new book with a behind the scenes look at this now internationally famous honey.

Authored by Cliff Van Eaton, who has spend over 30 years as a beekeeping consultant and advisor in New Zealand, and has also assisted in other countries.

His 'insider' knowledge from the beekeepers perspective enables him to tell the story of how Manuka honey has progressed from the first scientific discoveries that showed the potential of its unique properties.

For a fuller summary and review, have a read of this Manuka book review page here.

This book is due to be release in November, and should be available on amazon and through other bookstores from then.

Comvita Manukacare replaced by Medihoney Medical Honey

For more than ten years one of our most popular products has been the specialist medical grade item Comvita Manukacare. It was also a product that had tremendous positive feedback for the help it provided people in healing hard-to-heal leg ulcers and all sorts of various wounds, on people and also on animals. Different to the jars of manuka honey, Manukacare was a tube of medical grade manuka honey that had been sterilised and made suitable for external use on wounds.

However the Manukacare name has always been somewhat unique to the UK and Europe market (they weren't able to use the original 'Woundcare' name on packaging in this market.

In recent years Comvita has been transitioning most of its specialist medical products for wound use to their Medihoney brand name. The actual honey still comes from the same place, with Comvita have a specialist apiary (beekeeping unit) producing their medical grade honey.

Globally most of the Medihoney branded products are now distributed under license by a company called Derma Sciences, who have the knowledge and expertise when it comes to things such as getting regulatory approvals of products for medical use markets.

Thus products such as the Apinate Dressings that had previously come under Comvita's own name, a few years ago changed to the Medihoney brand, and with Derma Science's name also shown on the packaging.

There has now been a similar change to the Manukacare product. Manukacare itself has now been 'stopped'. i.e no longer being produced or packaged under that name.

The equivalent product to the Comvita Manukacare is now the Medihoney Antibacterial Medical Honey. It is still a 50g tube of medical grade honey, that has been sterilised. Although that sterilisation process may now occur in Canada, the honey still originates from New Zealand.

So for all your external wound care uses, whether on leg ulcers or other wound types, the tube of honey you should now be purchasing is the Medihoney Antibacterial Medical Honey product, here.

We no longer have any stock of tube that had been packaged under the Manukacare name. For a little while now what we have had is all fresh stock of under the Medihoney packaging.

Spring cleaning without the chemicals

As we're now into March, it's time for spring to start entering your thoughts, even if the weather outside today isn't very spring like.

For those who go through a house spring cleaning ritual, then this year pause for a moment about your use of chemicals in your home and how you can reduce them.

When it comes to polishing, nourishing and protecting your favourite furniture, whether wood or leather, then the Beeplenish natural beeswax polishes are a wonderful way to do that without harmful chemicals. Whether part of spring cleaning, or at any time of year - here is a review post about them by Emily of Pocketful Of Rye:
http://www.pocketfulofrye.co.uk/domestic-central/beeplenish

You'll find interesting recipes and all sorts of other posts on her blog too.

You can find further details of each of the Beeplenish beeswax polishes here.

Using Manuka Honey On Animals

We get quite a number of questions about using Manuka Honey with animals.

Well the same unique healing properties that are good for people, are also beneficial on animals. Though it should be pointed out that the majority of research around this honey has focused on humans, and so it tends to be anecdotal evidence and customer stories that support its use for your pets or other animals.

The most common enquiries are for using it on animal wounds, whether horses, dogs, cats, even rabbits.

Helping heal wounds is a particular strength of manuka honey, in all types of animals as well as people. Just like with people though, it must be emphasised that we are referring to correctly produced medical grade manuka honey here. There are products available containing medical grade honey that has been sterilised, whether in tubes ready to use, or in dressing format.

Genuine Manuka's special additional antibacterial property helps against any bacterial infection in the wound. The honey keeps it moist, which aids in healing and helps to reduce scarring, and as skin tries to re-grow over an area and can 'feed' from the nutrients in the honey. Its use also provides a kind of barrier to help stop new infections from entering the wound too.

The downside is really one of a practical nature, mainly that being honey it is sticky. So it is often suggested where possible to dress the area after application, especially with an animal in the home.

Depending on just where the wound is located, many animals may try to lick the honey off. This is not an issue in itself - but if it has been licked off then it is no longer on the wound to help with the healing. Where this is likely, then using a covering dressing is again suggested.

Here is an example of a dog who has recently had a wound healed with the help of a tube of Medical Manuka Honey.

View our range of genuine Manuka honey and medical grade products here.

Bee Venom Skincare - new product range on trial

As part of our efforts to expand our product offering, we've got

a brand new to the UK skincare product range on trial.

Bee Venom skincare by Wild Ferns.


Wild Ferns has captured the remarkable benefits of purified Bee Venom from New Zealand combined with Manuka Honey in a range of products that provide a regenerative skin therapy treatment.

Venom from the Bee is renowned for its ability to create a younger looking complexion by stimulating the skin to encourage collagen and elastin production, helping to firm and plump facial tissue.

Not all Bee Venom is equal which is the reason Wild Ferns have used VENZ purified Venom to ensure you get the highest quality available, and ensure it has been obtained in an ethical and humane manner. The bees are not harmed, and happily fly away again with their stings intact.

We will have greater information on the individual products at a later date - we are one of the first in the UK to have them in stock.

The Wild Ferns Bee Venom skincare range includes Moisturiser, Night Creme, a Serum and a Face Mask.

As a popular beauty trend this year, this is your chance to be among the first to try out a very new product range.

Available to order from our website now:
Bee Venom and Manuka Honey Skincare

Fake Manuka Honey in the UK

This morning's Sunday Times has an article saying there is more Manuka honey sold in the UK than what is actually produced in New Zealand, let alone taking into account what is sold in the rest of the world.

Unfortunately this is something that has been suspected within the industry for some time.

There are a couple of points to make. Firstly that it is not a food safety issue at all, we have seen nothing to suggest there is anything wrong from a food safety angle with the problem products. People can still consume them. Rather it is an authenticity issue over what properties are contained in a given brand's products and what they have tested for.

Some brands have been rating there honey on a peroxide activity basis - but this has known problems with research proving that the peroxide based activity is not stable. So we have no idea how they are able to assure that their labeled level of peroxide activity will still exist by the time the consumer buys it.

The other point is that the most common reason people buy manuka honey is with an expectation of receiving something extra to other honeys, and that extra property is the non-peroxide activity.

How do you know if Manuka Honey is Genuine?

Here are 5 tips for consumers to be aware of.

Or you can find examples of genuine UMF Manuka honey here.

The New Zealand Honey Shop has only ever sold UMF certified jars of honey.

Why is manuka honey so expensive?

This is becoming a more common question - 'why is manuka honey so expensive'? Unfortunately it is only likely to become even more expensive in future.

The core issue is a basic one of available supply versus demand. As a natural product, the supply side cannot be quickly changed, and can vary from year to year depending on weather conditions and other things that affect the harvest. It is not a factory produced product, and you can't just ask the bees to do an extra shift.

Genuine Manuka honey contains extra special activity over and above that which is found in all honeys. Peroxide based activity is in all honeys, including Manuka, but is not a stable property and so will often not remain in the jar by the time you come to use it. It is a unique 'non-peroxide' activity that makes genuine Manuka special, and is what the supporting research referred to in the press articles is based on.

So in appreciating that Manuka will be more expensive than other types of honey, it becomes more important to know what you are getting, and be sure that you are receiving a product that does contain the additional unique properties.

Your best assurance of receiving the special extra property in your jar is to choose one that carries the UMF® quality mark. This is the only international quality standard, where verification testing can be done in multiple countries. That becomes important when you consider that as a consumer you cannot see, nor taste the special property but are reliant on the label on the jar.

You can download for free a pdf eLeaflet 'Know Your Manuka Honey' from our website. This gives you the background information on how to know if manuka honey is genuine (click this link to get your copy). It has been prepared in association with the Food and Environment Research Agency in the UK (FERA).