Honey

Honey from Australia’s native stingless bees is showing remarkable promise as a potent, stable, and natural antimicrobial. Our recent study found that honeys produced by Tetragonula carbonaria, Tetragonula hockingsi, and Austroplebeia australis have unique properties that could position them as valuable additions to the medicinal honey market. Two layers of antimicrobial defence Most honey’s antimicrobial activity comes from hydrogen peroxide ...

Antimicrobial honeys can command premium prices and have valuable medical applications. Currently, the lack of well-defined parameters for assessing these properties presents a significant challenge to the Australian honey industry in developing the antimicrobial honey market. Our recently published study set out to address this challenge, aiming to identify key factors influencing the antimicrobial activity of honey and provide practical ...

Honey’s reputation for longevity is legendary, epitomized by the discovery of edible honey in the tomb of Egyptian king Tutankhamun, preserved for over 3,000 years. Our latest research reveals another dimension of honey’s endurance: its remarkable antimicrobial properties can endure for decades. Examining a collection of active Australian honeys, we found that the majority maintained significant antimicrobial activity for an ...

The Professional Beekeepers Community of Practice has been established to meet the needs of rural and regional Australians for the extension of beekeeping knowledge and to promote collaboration on important issues to commercial beekeeping. In short, we provide expert knowledge for a resilient beekeeping community.  Anyone can be a professional beekeeper. You can be a commercial beekeeper or a recreational ...

Researchers from the University of Western Australia conducted a survey in 2020-21 to value bush apiary sites in the southwestern area of the state and provide economic data on the industry. The paper is publicly available and provides a wealth of insight into the industry that will be important for demonstrating the impact of government decisions on the beekeeping and ...

Growing evidence suggests that honey is vitally important to hive function and overall health. The antimicrobial properties of honey are well-established in the context of human health, but fewer studies have connected this to bee health. Although floral source, geographic location, and environmental conditions are typically studied to understand honey activity, it is important to recognise that the bees themselves ...

Given the rising cost of living pressures, you may be tempted to buy the cheapest honey on the shelf. Here’s why you should think twice about that. Honey bees are important pollinators. Their efforts contribute to larger, better quality fruit and vegetables. In fact, at least 35 Australian industries depend upon honey bees for pollination. Without them the cost of ...

Honeybees have an amazing ability to process and store nectar in the form of honey, which plays a fundamental role in maintaining colony health. Honey consumption has far-ranging impacts on nutrition, resilience to pathogens, toxin tolerance, bee longevity, developmental regulation, immunity, and stress response. Beekeeping practices that substitute sugar solutions for honey may provide the hive with general nutrition, but ...

Interest in the antimicrobial activity of honey continues to grow. Honey is not a generic substance, and rather there is considerable variation between the taste, colour, aroma, and medicinal properties of honeys from different floral sources, regions, colonies, and apiaries. Honeys are extremely complex mixtures of up to 200 different substances and components of honey responsible for antimicrobial effects can ...

Each year at the Sydney Royal Easter Show the industry is promoted through Honeyland. This is an opportunity to showcase the industry, with honey tastings and sales. This year the honeys on offer are green mallee, yellowbox, Blakely’s red gum, orange blossom, clover, and leatherwood. Consumers are often surprised at just how different the available honeys taste. This is a ...

Honey is a fantastic, delicious, natural product, but can we call it organic? There are scores of different honeys on the market, not just in terms of flavour, but in how the honey is produced.  There are regulations regarding honey labels. However, there are no restrictions around the use of words like ‘organic’, or many of the other buzz words ...

NSW Performance Data and Insights 2020 The NSW Primary Industries Performance Data & Insights (PDI) highlights the economic output of the NSW Primary Industries sector each financial year. It reflects the underlying strength and long-term viability of primary industry sectors including beekeeping. 2020 marked the first in-depth look into honey and beeswax production in NSW.  The full report is available ...