Shipping

DOMESTIC ORDERS

We ship honey anywhere in Australia (where permitted) for free. Calculating shipping is a pain for you and for us, so we just absorb the cost. We aim to get orders out within 2 business days.

LOCAL ORDERS

All local orders are shipped for free as soon as possible, usually within a couple of days.

international shipping

Not yet implemented.  We're still working through this one.

what happens as honey ages

CRYSTALLIZATION

Nearly all honey will eventually crystalize (go hard, or "candy") as a result of the sugar to water ratio and the pollen content of the honey.  Some honey will go hard quickly, some will take a very long to crystallize, and a rare few types will never go hard.  This is a natural process and has no effect on the quality, although some people prefer their honey one way or the other, since texture has an impact on flavour.  You can re-liquify the honey by gently heating it (in a hot water bath, on a sunny window sill, etc) and periodically stirring it.  We don't recommend microwaving your honey to decrystallize it as this destroys the flavour and natural bio-activity of your honey.

Jar Frosting

Some honey will form white, frost-like patterns on the inside of the jar as a result of microscopic air bubbles being trapped against the glass. We usually only see this in honey that crystallizes rapidly and has a very high pollen content.  While it has no effect on the flavour, many people mistakenly think their honey has gone bad.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  You can get rid of the frosting by warming the jar and giving it a good stir.

Fermentation

Despite internet memes about honey being found in the pyramids, honey can ferment if the moisture content is high enough.  This may very well have been how mead was first discovered!  However, the moisture content of our honey is nowhere near high enough to spontaneously turn into alcohol.  If you're interested in making mead from our honey you'll need to add quite a bit of water to it.

The flavour of HOney

Many honey sellers describe their honey using what are basically nonsense words, like “bold”, “dark” and “full-bodied”. While these might be used to describe a flavour generally, they are useless on their own, and tell you nothing about what the honey actually tastes like. What does bold, full-bodied darkness taste like? All honey contains sweetness, but describing a honey as “sweet” is insufficient.  Consider these tasting notes to be guidelines (not rules). Stringybark honey from two different hives will taste slightly different from one another.

Post-Brood Honey  

All of our honey is post-brood. The darker the comb, the more propolis and pollen is stuck to it. This infuses the honey with anti-microbial flavonoids, phenolics, terpenoids, and complex aromatics, giving the honey a darker colour, a complex caramel flavour, and a reduced sweetness. Unlike Manuka honey which derives it’s antimicrobial activity from the nectar of a specific flower, our honey is believed to be anti-microbial because of the natural complexity of the way the bees store it.

Stringybark (Eucalyptus Obliqua and Baxteri)  

Medium to dark amber in colour. Hazelnuts and stone-fruit dominate the palate, hints of brown sugar in the middle, with a lingering nutty aftertaste.

Bursaria (Bursaria spinossa)

Light amber in colour. Typically tastes of butterscotch at the front, sweet and slightly salty, with a light floral/honeysuckle taste in the middle, and sometimes a hint of fruit.