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).