Making Mānuka honey

Bees can collect the nectar for their honey from a lot of different plants. How can you make sure the honey you have is Mānuka honey?

(Special thanks to the Department of Conservation for providing photos for this clip)

Transcript

Peter Molan (University of Waikato)

The Mānuka tree, Leptospermum scoparium , is unique to Australia and New Zealand. It’s not available anywhere else in the world.

Claude Stratford (Comvita)

Bees will fly over clover to Mānuka if it’s flowering. The two won’t be mixed. The bees know by the sugar content.

Young Mee Yoon (Comvita)

We know it’s Mānuka honey because we have a well trained taste method. Also, beekeepers say this honey’s from a Mānuka area, and we do UMF test. Mānuka honey tends to have UMF activity.