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Panforte

Panforte is a traditional Italian dessert containing fruits and nuts, and resembles fruitcake.  Delicious for Christmas!...

Is Sweetree Honey Pasteurised?

Our honey is not heat treated or pasteurised.  You can be confident that Sweetree raw honey has not been damaged by heating or finely filtered.  It still retains the enzymes, antibacterial qualities and high pollen counts naturally occurring in the honey.   Check out our range of raw honeys...

Feed Bees in Your Garden Over Winter

Now's the time to think about what plants you will have in your garden over the wintertime for bees. Everyone thinks that bees hibernate over the winter time but actually they don't. Bees stop flying when the temperatures drop down to around 10 degree celsius. They stay inside the hive and go into a big huddle to keep as warm as possible, this is called a winter cluster. The queen is kept inside the cluster to keep her warm and safe. The colder the temperature the more compact the cluster become...

Happy with Honey Harvest

Martin checking through the honey frames at Horsham Downs before harvesting the honey...

Sweetree Wins Gold!

We entered our Marokopa Spring honey into the 'Outstanding NZ Food Producers Awards' and it's just won GOLD! We were up against many other products in 'the earth' category such as; honey, spreads, condiments, loaves, crackers, and nuts.  Outstanding NZ Food Producer Award's organiser Kathie Bartley says “This was a great result for Sweetree, we had some awesome honey products this year.”  We're proud that Waikato honey is up there on top!  Waikato's pasture and ...

So Many Reasons to Love Honeywrap Food Wraps!

There are so many reasons to love Honeywrap food wraps.... Honeywrap is one of the only beeswax wraps that use GOTS Organic cotton.  Honeywraps mission is to protect the planet and that can't be done without choosing organic cotton.  Organic cotton is made without pesticides therefore it is better for the environment, the farmers and eventually our own health as our skin and food is not exposed to the harmful chemicals used in the manufacturing process of ...

Lemon Honey Drizzle Cake

This is another quick recipe to whip up when you have visitors turning....

Jam to the Food Bank

You may recall that a small group of us ladies get together to make jam from surplus fruit picked or donated, pour it into recycled Sweetree honey jars and give them to our local food bank.  We have recently made some delicious plum and strawberry jams (plums thanks to our neighbour and strawberries thanks to a donation by The Strawberry Farm on Newells Road).  We've just dropped off a few boxes of the jams to our local food bank in Ngaurawahia, which will be handed out to th...

World Wildlife Day

Today is World Wildlife Day and this years theme is “Life below water: for people and planet". The ocean contains nearly 200,000 identified species, but actual numbers may be in the millions. Globally, the market value of marine and coastal resources and industries is estimated at US$3 trillion per year, about 5% of global GDP. Over three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods. Marine wildlife has sustained human civilization and development for mil...

This Week is Sea Week: 2-10 March

Seaweek is New Zealand’s annual national week for the sea and focuses on learning from the sea.  It’s about exciting and inspiring all New Zealanders to renew their connections with the sea! It's not just for children, it's a great time for all of us to get to know our ocean, its habitats, characteristics and inhabitants better.  This years theme is 'Care for Our Seas'. Let's head to the beach sometime over this week and enjoy our wonderful NZ coastlines.  Get in the wate...

Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

This is some amazing bread.  It really is a great tribute to the noble pumpkin.  This pumpkin bread hits it out of the park.  I had a hankering or a true craving for good pumpkin bread.  Fortunately, pumpkins are easy to come by most of the year and, for me, throwing the entire, often awkward pumpkin in the oven to roast is easier than peeling and cutting while risking one of your important fingers.  Thus, because of the roast pumpkin, this bread is naturally sweet. My a...

Where Do you Put Your Dental Floss?

Where do you put your dental floss?  Our dental hygienist suggested in the shower!  It's been the perfect place for us to remember to floss, I'm flossing way more than I used to.  I was worried about the container collecting condensation but I keep it out of the water on a shelf in the shower and it's perfectly fine, as you can see in this photo. ...

Ancient Grain Hot Cereal (Porridge) with Honey Roasted Apples

This recipe is a warming, delicious (and nutritious) way to start the day.  I’ve noticed the breakfast cravings seem to shift a bit as well when the weather begins to cool down and the need to start the day with something a bit more on the hearty side becomes almost mandatory.  This breakfast ticks all the boxes and can easily be doubled, thus can be enjoyed all week as leftovers.  Leftovers for breakfast?  Yes!...

You Look After The Environment More Than You Know When Eating Sweetree Honey!

Thanks to everyone that ate Sweetree honey this year, you stopped 10,000 plastic pottles going into the landfill this year alone by eating your honey out of glass jars instead of plastic ones!  Your old glass jars are now being re-used or recycled which is fantastic!   But believe it not you have done more than that!  Did you know that most beekeepers have plastic hiveware, such as plastic honey frames, in their hives??  What happens to this hiveware at the end of it's life? ...

Buzzy Time of Year!

These hives are heading out to our Hakarimata and Kirikiriroa sites....

Super Seed Mix with Yoghurt and Summer Fruit

Building on New Zealand’s own LSA combo, with the addition of high quality ingredients including goji berries, the amazing chia seed, and underrated bee pollen, this breakfast is just the right combination of nutrients and deliciousness, to fuel us through the morning....

Sweetree Honey Oat Biscuits

This recipe was created for Sweetree Honey by Matt Macaskill, a local chef who loves Sweetree honey....

About Sweetree Bee Pollen

Sweetree Bee Pollen is collected from our home apiary site at rural Horsham Downs, near Hamilton.  With abundant nearby flora, Sweetree honey bees gather pollen from a wide range of flowering plants, reflected in the many different colours of pollen.  These colours indicate a highly nutritious bee pollen and we have received many favourable comments from our customers regarding its effectiveness.  We ensure that our bee pollen is kept as fresh as possible, storing no longer than t...

Drone Bee

Types of bees from www.britannica.com...

Worker Bees

Our hard working worker bees on a frame of honey...

Queen Bee

A photo of one of our queen bees (see how long her abdomen is compared to the worker bees?)...

Tips When Substituting Sugar for Honey in Baking

It's very easy to substitute honey for sugar in your recipes. Honey is up to twice as sweet as table sugar, so you will need to reduce the amount called for in the recipe by one-third to one-half honey for granulated or table sugar. In addition, since honey is composed of up to 18% water, you will need to reduce the liquid called for in baked goods by about one-fifth.When baking sweets, you should also lower your oven temperature by 15 degrees C.To help that honey slide smoothly from your measur...

Pollen Encrusted Salmon

This is a delicious salmon meal made for Sweetree Honey by a local chef, Michael Daly....

Conservation Week 15 - 23 Sept

Conservation Week is run by Department of Coservation (DOC) to encourage people to get involved in nature and help to take care of it.  It’s a nationwide celebration of kiwis pitching in to help our native plants and animals.This year conservation week is aiming to raise awareness of the biodiversity crisis that New Zealand is facing with more than 4,000 of our species threatened or at risk, and what we can all do to help.  DOC says "The species at risk include those that people know...

Waste Free Travelling

I usually get a bit slack with reducing my wastage when I'm travelling.  How about you?  I've always carried my reusable water bottle in the car but that's as far as it went, until recently.  When travelling or eating out on the run it can be very hard to avoid single-use plastic.  But I've found a bit of prep and forward thought can really help reduce this sort of plastic wastage.  I knew I needed to get my act together and get a little car kit together but I kept procr...