photo © Eric Tourneret
'There is something about our forests that beckon us back: they have a fascination all their own.
Eternal peace seems to dwell therein, and it is the one place from which the ‘madding crowd’ is missing.'
Terroir
Terroir is the poetry of landscape. Others have defined it as ‘bio-regional fingerprints’, evident in honey, wine, olive oil, cheese and other artisan products that embody the essence of the surrounding environment.
As a natural food capable of capturing terroir, honey has no equal. Wild Honeycomb is made entirely by the bees - free of human involvement (unlike wine, cheese and olive oil which require human intervention).
Each jar of honey is a snapshot of over two million flowers; a result of nectar gathered feverishly and ferried back to the glowing hive where it is miraculously transmuted. Each season and each region yields a unique honey. It is our job to treat the harvest with care and respect and do nothing to hamper the expression of terroir.
As a natural food capable of capturing terroir, honey has no equal. Wild Honeycomb is made entirely by the bees - free of human involvement (unlike wine, cheese and olive oil which require human intervention).
Each jar of honey is a snapshot of over two million flowers; a result of nectar gathered feverishly and ferried back to the glowing hive where it is miraculously transmuted. Each season and each region yields a unique honey. It is our job to treat the harvest with care and respect and do nothing to hamper the expression of terroir.
TASTE
Wild honeycomb and Wild honey have a flavour quite unlike any store bought honey - traditional honey hunters scale trees and cliffs, risking their lives to collect this treasure. Unfortunately, the vast majority of commercially available honey is a shadow of its former glory. Most shop honey has gone through many stages of heating during extraction, storage, transit, re-heating and bottling. This is not to mention micro-filtration, packing in plastic and exposure to various toxic chemicals in the field and in the hive.
We aim to provide the purest and healthiest honey in Australia; one that respects the species specific needs of the bee colony and captures the unique terroir of the Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands.
It has been proven scientifically that genuine wild honey has a different flavour, texture and chemical composition to conventionally produced honey. The complex flavour profile of our wild honeys can be explained in part by the amazing terroir of the environments where our bees forage, and the high levels of bee bread (pollen) and propolis found in the honey, adding dimensions of flavour not found in conventionally produced honey.
Please visit Awards and Recognition to see how our efforts are gaining the attention of Australia’s leading chefs and food judges.
We aim to provide the purest and healthiest honey in Australia; one that respects the species specific needs of the bee colony and captures the unique terroir of the Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands.
It has been proven scientifically that genuine wild honey has a different flavour, texture and chemical composition to conventionally produced honey. The complex flavour profile of our wild honeys can be explained in part by the amazing terroir of the environments where our bees forage, and the high levels of bee bread (pollen) and propolis found in the honey, adding dimensions of flavour not found in conventionally produced honey.
Please visit Awards and Recognition to see how our efforts are gaining the attention of Australia’s leading chefs and food judges.
Malfroy's Wild Honeycomb, photo © Michael Wee
CLIMATE - OUR APIARIES
Winburndale Nature Reserve (adjacent to a number of our apiaries), Central Tablelands NSW
Our apiaries are located in two distinct bioregions: the Greater Blue Mountains region and the adjoining Central Tablelands. Each bioregion contains many sub-regions or eco-regions, particularly in the Blue Mountains where the flora changes dramatically with altitude (the area rises from sea level to over 1000m in just 37km).
The bees in our apiaries in the lower Blue Mountains experience very hot summers and mild winters; in contrast the upper Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands have warm to hot summers and cool to cold winters.
Temperature extremes across our apiaries range from 52°C in the height of summer to -10°C in winter (with windchill getting down to minus 20°C), with temperatures in the Central Tablelands regularly fluctuating 20°C or more in a single day.
The bees in our apiaries in the lower Blue Mountains experience very hot summers and mild winters; in contrast the upper Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands have warm to hot summers and cool to cold winters.
Temperature extremes across our apiaries range from 52°C in the height of summer to -10°C in winter (with windchill getting down to minus 20°C), with temperatures in the Central Tablelands regularly fluctuating 20°C or more in a single day.
The higher altitudes experience a few snowfalls in winter each year, with rainfall averages being highly variable in all regions, ranging from 600mm/year in the Central Tablelands to 1500mm/year in the upper Blue Mountains. Long periods without any rain are common, particularly in the Central Tablelands. Rainfall can vary from 350mm/year to 2,500mm/year across the 2 regions.
The range of climates and altitudes within a relatively small area mean that snow can be falling in our Central Tablelands apiaries on the same day that our bees are foraging strongly on a honeyflow at 25°C in the lower Blue Mountains.
These extreme and varied climates contribute to the character and purity of our Wild honey.
The range of climates and altitudes within a relatively small area mean that snow can be falling in our Central Tablelands apiaries on the same day that our bees are foraging strongly on a honeyflow at 25°C in the lower Blue Mountains.
These extreme and varied climates contribute to the character and purity of our Wild honey.
Warré Apiary in Snow, Central Tablelands NSW
BLUE MOUNTAINS
The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area incorporates over 1,000,000 hectares including 550,000 hectares of wilderness. The Eucalypt forests of the region are the most diverse and intact scleromorphic (hard-leaved) forests in the Earth's temperate zone.
Upper Blue Mountains NSW
They range from the tall open forests of the high tops and deep valleys to open woodlands and mallee shrublands.
Upper Blue Mountains
Wollemi Wilderness
Heathland Wild Flowers, Upper Blue Mountains
These forests,
together with non-Eucalypt ecosystems including rainforests, heaths and wetlands, protect a significant proportion of Australia's total biodiversity, which is unique and important on a global scale.
The area received world heritage status on 29 November 2000 for its diversity of Eucalypts and refugia of ancient plants, including the Wollemi Pine. The area is also noted for its
superlative beauty characterised by the blue haze of Eucalypts set against the dramatic contrast of the world's finest display of sandstone plateaus. Rich in cultural heritage, the area is the birthplace of the conservation movement in Australia and the traditional land of six aboriginal language groups.
Warré Apiary, Upper Blue Mountains NSW
Our apiaries are located in isolated areas of the lower and upper Blue Mountains on bushland, organic farms, permaculture properties and gardens bordering the World Heritage area. The hive numbers are kept small at each apiary to minimise disturbance to the local environment. For more information, please visit:
CENTRAL TABLELANDS (PART OF THE CENTRAL WEST)
The Central Tablelands of NSW are located just west of the Blue Mountains and are part of the larger Central West region, which covers 63,262 sq km.
It is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri people.
Central Tablelands NSW
The tablelands and highlands are located in the eastern section of the Central West region at altitudes of 700-1300m and feature large areas of remnant forest and woodland in contrast to other areas of the Central West which have been heavily cleared for agriculture.
Our apiaries are located in vast mountainous woodland areas, where the bees are able to forage on a number of Eucalypt species, shrubs, and ground flora.
Our apiaries are located in vast mountainous woodland areas, where the bees are able to forage on a number of Eucalypt species, shrubs, and ground flora.
Eucalypt woodland, Central Tablelands NSW
Ground Flora, Central Tablelands NSW
Heathland, Central Tablelands NSW
The main honey flows are produced from the Yellow Box (Eucalyptus melliodora) and Red Stringybark (Eucalyptus macrorhyncha) trees, which supply an abundance of nectar during flowering, every two to four years.
Warré Apiary, Central Tablelands NSW
The quality of honey from this area is astounding, partly due to the altitude and hot, dry summers.
The Grassy or Box Gum Woodlands of the Central West and other parts of Australia are listed as a threatened ecological community.
For more information, please visit:
The Grassy or Box Gum Woodlands of the Central West and other parts of Australia are listed as a threatened ecological community.
For more information, please visit:
ZERO-INPUT APICULTURE
We practice zero-input natural beekeeping so our yields are heavily dependent on seasonal conditions. In a single year the area may experience severe drought, dust storms, heat waves, bushfires, floods and snow storms.
Snow on Winburndale Nature Reserve, Central Tablelands NSW
The Eucalypts that we rely on for the majority of our harvest flower dynamically according to weather patterns, particularly including changes in the Southern Oscillation Index (otherwise known as the El Nino/La Nina effect).
Click here for an educational PDF about the SOI from the Bureau of Meteorology.
Click here for an educational PDF about the SOI from the Bureau of Meteorology.