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Pear Tart with Quark and Honey

A delicious dessert and a great way to use up your pears during the season....

Bee Swarms

Spring is the time of year when you are likely to see a few bee swarms.  For those that don't know much about swarms I thought I would explain what they are, why bees swarm and what to do if you have one turn up at your place.Firstly, have a look at one of our beehives swarming!...

Muesli Bar with Toasted Coconut, White Chocolate and Apricots

These muesli bars are jam packed with so much goodness, it’s ridiculous.  It may help you look past the butter and peanut  butter that goes into the middle!...

Honeywraps Are Set Apart From Other Food-Wraps

Honeywrap food wraps are set apart from other food-wraps, the most important difference is that they are made with certified organic fabric, and always have been. If you are serious about protecting the planet, as we are - then organic cotton is a must. Why would you choose non-organic for the same price? Normal cotton has one of the highest pesticides in the world - poisoning the soil, water ways and impacting the health of local communities. GOTs ce...

Sustainable Product Labels

At Sweetree honey we are passionate about sustainability, we take good care of our bees, we are careful about wastage, we don't use plastic anywhere through the honey process and we pack our honey in the most sustainable form we know, glass. We do our best to be sustainable in all areas of our business but unfortunately there’s no such thing as perfection. Product labels have been a tricky one.  We initially chose our labels because we loved them, they were simple, clear and sophisti...

Chocolate & Bee Pollen Irish Fudge

This recipe is so decadent!  And the great thing is it lasts for months in the fridge. Great treat to have on hand and healthy with the bee pollen added....

Why Eat Local Honey?

You Can Purchase Raw Honey You can purchase raw/unpasteurised honey directly from a beekeeper that still retains its natural vitamins, enzymes, antioxidants, and other important nutrients.  By buying honey directly from the beekeeper you know where your honey comes from, how it's collected and processed, and how well the bees are looked after.   You Protect The Environment Since local honey doesn’t have to travel far, you save energy and reduce your carbon footprint.  Great...

Local Honey For Allergies

Did you know that eating local honey leading up and during the hay fever season could help your body desensitise against air borne pollens?  Research shows that it works like a vaccination does against childhood diseases.  This desensitisation is based on the idea that the small amounts of pollen in the honey will cause the body to produce antibodies that will cancel out the effects of the air borne pollen when the person is exposed to it again.  Many of our custome...

Avoiding Insecticides that Affect Bees!

One of the biggest threats to bees is the use of insecticides in home gardens, farms, orchards and market gardens.  They are designed to kill good and bad insects, including bees so please avoid them.  Sprays and coated seeds containing neonicotinoids are linked to bees disappearing around the world.  Unfortunately they persist in the environment for a long time, so keep on affecting bees.  The European Union have banned neonicotinoid insecticides for two years until further ...

Feed The Bees - Plant Bee Friendly Plants!

As you may know this month is 'Bee Aware Month' and with spring upon us it's a great time to focus on making sure our Kiwi bees have plenty of food to keep them buzzing! Bees forage on flowers for nectar, which provide carbohydrates, and pollen, for protein. These are important for growth and energy. Well-nourished bees are more capable of fending off disease and parasites.  And you may be aware there are more and more diseases and parasites that affect bees in New Zealand. But what can we ...

Carrot Muffins with Honey and Vanilla

These muffins are a delightful healthy treat that pay homage to a variety of delicious seasonal ingredients.  Full of carrots, pineapple, raisins, ground flax, and just the right amount of honey, these muffins taste naughty and nice in one bite....

Waikato Rower Fuelled by Sweetree Honey and Bee Pollen

We are very proud to be sponsoring Daniel Bridgwater, a young passionate Waikato rower, in his goal to compete for New Zealand and contest for gold in the 2020 Olympics. Sweetree honey and bee pollen are fuelling and keeping him healthy as he trains for the Olympic trials coming up.  We wish you the very best Daniel with the up and coming trials & regattas!...

Sweetree's Favourite Honeys

Sweetree's all-time favourite Waikato honeys are currently in stock! Four Brothers Reserve derives its name from our apiary's location near the beautiful bush-clad deviation linking Hamilton and Raglan. On the horizon, wind turbines produce renewable power while our bees gather nectar from pasture flowers, Kanuka and other natives.  It's a lovely soft, buttery honey with a delicious caramel taste is sure to please!  Sweetree Four Brothers Reserve honey is featured in Simon Ga...

Reducing Our Plastic Free Footprint While Travelling

We've recently come back from a trip to Europe for my brother's wedding.  When we were in Venice I was shocked to see so many plastic bottles in the rubbish bins, the bins were about 5 meters from each other and they were all full.  But I was flabbergasted to find out the bins get emptied every half an hour!!! So this photo is just half an hours plastic waste!! I'm so glad we took our own reusable drink bottles, we would have gone through a huge amount of plastic otherwise.  The g...

Mini Citrus Cakes with a Honey Drizzle

This is a quick and easy recipe to whip up when you have visitors popping over....

Sensational Waikato Honeys

With its wonderful diverse floral sources the Waikato produces some sensational honeys!  Sweetree Honey is a true reflection of the Waikato's flora. Much like a great wine reflects the terroir of where the grapes have grown, Sweetree Honey’s different varieties reflect the area and season the bees worked their magic. From the light and creamy coloured honey of the Four Brothers Reserve with an almost caramel flavour to the more peppery Marokopa Summer - there is a Sweetree ...

Plastic Free July!

Plastic bottles, bags and takeaway containers that we use just for a few minutes use a material that is designed to last forever.  They break up rather than break down (becoming permanent pollution), and they are either unrecyclable or down-cycled (made into low-grade products for just one more use).  When sent to the landfill they can escape from bins and trucks to end up in our waterways and the ocean.   Alarmingly scientists predict that there will be more tonnes of p...

NZ Garden Bird Survey

Now, this is a great event to be part of!  It's the yearly 'Garden Bird Survey'.  By surveying birds in our gardens, parks or school grounds, we can help Landcare Research learn more about NZ's common and widespread birds as well as inform future conservation efforts. The survey runs from Saturday 29th June until Sunday 7th July.  Just choose a day that suits you, grab a comfy seat and binoculars and look and listen in your garden for one hour.  For each species record the hi...

Sweetree Fuels Up & Coming Waikato Rower

We are very proud to be sponsoring Daniel Bridgwater, a young passionate Waikato rower, in his goal to compete for New Zealand and contest for gold in the 2020 Olympics. He is a huge fan of Sweetree honey, and uses it both as a fuel during his training and as a delicious treat during his day to day life. Now Sweetree honey and bee pollen will fuel him and keep him healthy the whole way through training for his aspirations.  We wish you the very best Daniel and look forward to seeing so...

Lil’ Orange Almond Tea Cakes with Citrus Honey Glaze

These are gluten and dairy freeBeautiful as it is, simple and naturally flourless, it gets its moistness from using the entire fruit.  No joke.  Orange peel and all.  This recipe is simple and fresh on the palate right about when your taste buds are screaming for something to rock their world in the middle of winter.  Give it a go and I have a feeling you might be impressed as well.  Being fruits fluctuate in their sweetness, taste the batter after mixing all the ingredi...

World Environment & Arbor Day

Today is 'World Environment Day' and 'Arbor Day'!  It's a great reason to get out there and do something to help our environment, whether it's catching the bus, biking to work, planting trees, tidying up trees, picking up rubbish on a bush track, beach, park or along the road; every little bit helps!   ...

How to Avoid Winter Bugs!

It's that time of year again when it can be hard to avoid those winter ailments.  Coughs, colds, sore throats, blocked/running nose, blocked ears, feeling miserable.  And then there is the full blown flu - it's a nasty one this year! The best thing you can do to avoid these bugs is by having a good strong immunity to start with.  But with our fast paced lives these days there is often not enough time to exercise, get out in the sun or prepare nourishing foods.  And the physic...

World Bee Day

Today is World Bee Day! The United Nations declared the date as World Bee Day in December 2017, after years of campaigning by the Republic of Slovenia to get recognition for bees and their importance to the environment. It's all about raising awareness about the critical role of honey bees in our communities and economy, and the need to protect their health. Bees are critically important to New Zealand and to the New Zealand economy – much more so than you might think! Without bees, our garden...

Honey Cakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Peanut butter and honey is such a classic combination and for good reason too, it just always tastes great. Although there are three components to these cakes; the cake, the frosting and the honeyed nuts, it’s all super easy to prepare. The peanut butter frosting is very moorish but it’s the honeyed nuts that really finish them off. The nuts don’t take long, but need a watchful eye so they don’t burn....

Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day!  Earth Day is a day of political action and civic participation. People march, sign petitions, meet with their elected officials, plant trees, clean up their towns and roads. Corporations and governments use it to make pledges and announce sustainability measures. Faith leaders, including Pope Francis, connect Earth Day with protecting God’s greatest creations, humans, biodiversity and the planet that we all live on.  Protect SpeciesThis year's focus is protecting...