Harvesting areas New Zealand

A look at our harvesting areas in New Zealand.

Islands at the end of the world.

New Zealand, or Aotearoa (“Land of the Long White Cloud”) as the Māori call it, is a place of extremes. Isolated from the rest of the world, a unique flora has been able to develop here over millions of years. For bees, this is a paradise. Far away from the industrial centres of the northern hemisphere, surrounded by the endless expanse of the Pacific, our partner beekeepers enjoy conditions with a rare sense of unspoilt nature here.

The green paradise.

Beekeeping in New Zealand is relatively young, but it has developed rapidly. It benefits from the enormous diversity of the landscape: from the subtropical forests in the north, through the lush green pastures, to the rugged fjords in the south. New Zealand beekeepers often work in extremely inaccessible terrain. Some beehives are even flown by helicopter into remote valleys in order to obtain the purest nectar. One such special area is the mountainous Otago region, in which wild thyme grows in abundance. The intensely spicy aroma of the thyme honey produced there is the result of the unusual climatic conditions in these highlands.

The Māori’s treasure: Manuka

In the unspoilt coastal regions and on the edges of forests grows a plant that looks inconspicuous but harbours a secret: the manuka (Leptospermum scoparium), also known as South Sea myrtle. It is a pioneer plant that defies wind and weather. The indigenous people, the Māori, have traditionally always used parts of the plant due to its special properties.

Manuka honey is a phenomenon. It contains the constituent methylglyoxal (MGO) in concentrations that are found in no other honey in the world. The higher the MGO content, the more valuable the honey. Extraction is complex, as the manuka bush only flowers once a year for a short period and the weather has to be perfect during this time.

Get to know our world of honey even better.