As Nature Intended

Tahi’s wildly remote Northern New Zealand location means our honey has a unique taste all of its own. From our hives to your hands, we treat honey with the respect it deserves. 100% Full Circle – Biodiversity-positive honey. No overheating, no pasteurising, no artificial anything. Tahi honey is fully traceable to source and free from GMOs and GE, with no added sugar or water, and absolutely, passionately, no chemicals. That way, you know it’s 100% natural … just as nature intended.

100% Natural Honey

SPREAD THE GOODNESS

Tahi’s warm, sub-tropical climate, and determination to protect our environment means our honey has a unique taste all of its own. Rich and golden, smooth and creamy, sweet yet mild … and so good for you! Made from the nectar of New Zealand’s native Mānuka flowers, Mānuka honey is revered for its unique medicinal qualities. And emerging research shows that it’s even more active than previously thought.

NATURE’S GIFT KEPT NATURAL.

At Tahi, we believe that mānuka honey is an incredible gift from nature, and should stay that way. Common commercial honey is highly filtered to remove all pollen and microscopic particles, which damages its natural composition and can start the crystallisation process. At Tahi we eliminate the need to aggressively filter our honey, in contrast, commercial runny honeys have been subjected to high temperatures and aggressive filtering; without this, they would crystallise.

OUR RANGE – A LITTLE WILD, A LOT DELICIOUS

$26.00

Deliciously soothing with a sweet yet slightly tangy taste.

$34.00

Rich, golden, intense and malty, with unique butterscotch flavour.

$30.00

Smooth, sweet and a little runny, with a complex, full-bodied taste.

$288.00

A rich, tangy honey: complex and deliciously intense with a clean, pure finish.

$112.00

Less sweet, more ‘savoury’ flavours. Rich, tasty & moderately tangy.

$495.00

Our most rare and precious honey: rich, intense and complex.

$38.00

Smooth and aromatic, with a sweet, crisp and delicately floral taste.

$40.00

The taste of New Zealand summer. Light, creamy and subtly floral, sweet yet a little salty.

$22.00$34.00

Beelicious is sweet, creamy and tasty with subtle notes of native forest flowers. Choose from three collectable jar designs.

$22.00$34.00

Beelicious is sweet, creamy and tasty with subtle notes of native forest flowers. Choose from three collectable jar designs.

$22.00$34.00

Beelicious is sweet, creamy and tasty with subtle notes of native forest flowers. Choose from three collectable jar designs.

$110.00$112.00

Less sweet, more ‘savoury’ flavours. Rich, tasty & moderately tangy.

Out of stock
$69.00

Smooth, sweet & well balanced with a delightful Mānuka ‘tang’.

$23.00$40.00

Sweet, smooth and mildly tangy with a unique depth of flavour.

$91.00

A delicious collection of two of our most popular honeys: Tahi UMF5+ and Tahi Forest Honey.

$200.00

A very special collection of two of our most sought-after honeys, revered for containing high quantities of Mānuka's unique, natural properties.

$39.00$62.00

Sweet and mildly tangy, smooth & creamy with a clean, pure finish.

$286.00$288.00

A rich, tangy honey: complex and deliciously intense with a clean, pure finish.

TASTING GUIDE

Tahi has a UMF rating of up to 23+, which means it’s as pure and authentic as Mānuka honey can get. That’s because UMF is a global standard that measures the purity and quality of Mānuka and its unique, natural properties. Another trusted standard is MGO, which stands for methylglyoxal (the naturally occurring compound that makes Mānuka honey so special). Tahi honey has an MGO rating of up to 1046+, so you know you’re getting a real honey of a honey.

Marks of Quality (UMFTM/MGO)

IT’S THE REAL DEAL

The UMFTM trademark is your guarantee that our honey is genuine New Zealand Mānuka honey, containing high levels of natural pollens. This internationally verified and recognised trademark measures the purity and quality of Mānuka. UMFTM is supported by an industry quality standard, independent audits and evaluations from accredited laboratories. Honey that carries the UMFTM brand must follow stringent guidelines (visit umf.org.nz to find out more). Tahi honey has a UMF rating of up to 23+, which means it’s as pure and authentic as Mānuka honey can get. So you know you’re getting a real honey of a honey.

UMFTM & MGO Explained

Mānuka honey’s unique natural properties mean it has become one of the most researched honeys in the world. The UMFTM grading system is the only true indication of the authenticity, purity and quality of Mānuka honey, because its a rigorous process measures all three natural markers: Leptosperin, DHA and Methylglyoxal (MGO).

TAHI HONEY MEASURES UP

The UMFTM trademark is your guarantee that our honey is genuine New Zealand Mānuka honey, containing high levels of its unique signature compounds. This standard is widely recognised and highly sought after by consumers around the globe, and has a substantial body of research behind it. Tahi honey has a UMF rating of up to 23 + (our richest, most complex honey), which means it’s as pure and authentic as Mānuka honey can get. To find out more, make a beeline to umf.org.nz

WE MAKE THE MGO GRADE TOO.

Another trusted grading system is MGO (methylglyoxal), a naturally-occuring compound found in very small quantities in ordinary honey, but it can be up to 100x higher in Mānuka honey. The MGO system was established by award-winning biochemist, Dr Peter Molan (MBE), as an accurate means of measuring New Zealand’s most premium, potent honeys. Tahi Mānuka honey ranges from 83+ (our UMF 5+) to a whopping 1046+ (our UMF 23+). So you know you’re enjoying a very, very special honey.

UMFTM, MGO … What’s The Difference?

As this table shows, there is a direct correlation between UMF and MGO ratings. NPA stands for ‘non-peroxide activity’, the naturally-occuring antimicrobial property that makes premium Mānuka honey so sought after around the globe.

UMF RATING

MINIMUM MGO* METHYLGLYOXAL

MINIMUM NPA** NON-PEROXIDE ACTIVITY

UMF 23+

1046

23.0

UMF 20+

829

20.0

UMF 18+

692

18.0

UMF 15+

514

15.0

UMF 12+

356

12.0

UMF 10+

263

10.0

UMF 8+

182

8.0

UMF 5+

83

5.0

* MGO is measured as mg/kg (ppm)
** NPA is measured as % solution (%w/v) of phenol/water

Authentic & Assured

YOURS SECURELY, FROM TAHI.

With two levels of security, our ultra-secure packaging is designed to ensure it’s impossible to tamper with – or imitate – the purity and potency of Tahi honey. Sure, it may take a little longer to open (spoons at the ready!), but once you do, you know you’re getting the real deal. Our new micro-secure foil is not only tamper proof, it also features our unique branding so you can be sure it’s authentic Tahi honey. Next, you’ll see a second seal over the honey itself: further proof that the contents are untouched. Lastly, our label is a complex, bespoke design, so (imitators beware), it’s very difficult to reproduce.

WHY SO FUSSY?

Because our premium Mānuka honey is precious – we want you to know you’re buying genuine Tahi honey, every time. Our super-premium 23+ honey already features our new micro-secure foil and we’ll be rolling it out onto all Tahi jars in the near future.

PLANET-FRIENDLIER PACKAGING

We’ve consciously chosen plastic jars for most of our honeys, rather than glass. Why? Glass jars aren’t made in New Zealand, so to import and export the jars would have a massive carbon footprint – the opposite of Tahi’s ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ philosophy. Plastic also requires substantially less protective packaging, again helping to reduce our footprint.

GOING ONE BETTER FOR NATURE

Our jars are 100% recyclable, made up of 70% recycled plastic and 30% virgin plastic to meet international food regulations, while the cardboard in our gift packs is also recycled and recyclable. We also offset our (comparatively light) carbon footprint through planting and wetland restoration. It’s our way of going one better for nature, in every way we can.

BEEKEEPING IS IN OUR BLOOD

Our family’s love of beekeeping (and the environment) goes back many generations, since 1888. Together with our hard-working team, we’ve spent over a decade restoring Tahi into a world-class wetland sanctuary and ecological retreat that benefits our local community today – and leaves a legacy for future generations. Read More

100% Full Circle – Nature Sanctuary

Since 2003, we have converted 780-acres of land in Northland from a run-down cattle farm into a nature sanctuary that is internationally recognised as a Global Ecosphere Retreat®. This has involved fencing animals out of wetlands and forests, reversing drainage and constructing ponds and lakes, and planting trees and shrubs. Over half a million trees have been planted to date (and counting) to create habitat and reconnect the different ecosystems.Plants have been sourced mainly from local ecosystems and grown at Tahi. In addition to plants that offer food for birds and bees, we have also planted a number of rarer Northland species.

The Lightest of Footprints

Tahi honey is eco-friendly, carbon neutral and biodiversity positive, with 100% of profits going directly towards conservation, community and culture. By planting thousands of trees and restoring nearly 74 acres of wetlands, we fully offset our carbon footprint (including our jars of honey). Not surprisingly, we’ve received several awards for our environmental and sustainable practices.

HONEY WITH A PURPOSE

Sustainably produced on a remote, restored wetland sanctuary in New Zealand’s North Island, Tahi is mānuka honey as it’s meant to be: 100% natural, pure, authentic and delicious. We gather our honey from bees that feed freely on the nectar of wild mānuka flowers throughout Northland, harvest it ethically, and treat it minimally to retain the high pollen levels that make mānuka honey so highly prized around the world.Tahi’s honey represents ecology, intention and passion. It’s about making the right choices for your health, for the environment, for the community, and for the bees.

GOODBYE PESTS ... HELLO NATIVE SPECIES

Before humans arrived on our untouched shores, New Zealand was a land teeming with birds, bats, large insects and lizards. All of these have been threatened since human occupation due to the introduction of a large number of mammalian pests; the worst including stoats, weasels, rats, feral cats, possums, feral pigs, goats and rabbits. Uncontrolled, these animals devastate the native flora, fauna and animals.

Tahi works to humanely control these pests at Tahi so that the native wildlife can recover is an ongoing mission that extends to neighbouring properties to reduce the risk of reinvasion. As well as pest animals, a range of invasive plant species threaten our local ecosystems. We control the worst of these – pampas grass, moth plant and apple of Sodom (kapok tree/rubber plant) – together with a wide variety of agricultural weeds such as ragwort.

We’re thrilled to see our efforts being rewarded by the return of so many birds, including the stunning species you’ll see on our honey labels, shows that our approach is working.

REPLENISHING OUR FORESTS

To replenish our lands to a more natural state, we’ve sourced thousands of plants and trees, primarily from local ecosystems. As well as plants that offer food for birds and bees, we’ve also planted a number of rare Northland species. One of the first trees to establish on bare ground in New Zealand is Mānuka. It’s the first pioneer in a natural process of re-afforestation and a foundation for producing our Mānuka honey.

To help re-establish Tahi’s native forests, we plant between 10,000 and 20,000 Mānuka trees a year, as well as another 10,000 plants of other species, including many rare plants and many that produce nectar for birds and bees. We grow most of the plants from seed and cuttings taken from our existing site.

PLANTING TREES FOR BEES

Honey bees aren’t native to New Zealand. From an ecological perspective, honey bees compete with birds and native insects, such as native solitary bees, for nectar and pollen. To ensure we don’t exploit the natural ecosystem and reduce the supply of nectar for our native birds and insects, we’ve substantially increased the numbers of nectar-producing shrubs and trees.

Birds such as honeyeaters have much longer tongues than bees, so they can access the nectar that bees can’t reach. As a guide, we place one hive for every three hectares of forest or scrub to ensure local birds have sufficient food resources. Our observations have confirmed that native bees continue to thrive at Tahi and we provide new nesting sites for native bees.

ON A MANUKA MISSION

Replanting forest requires large numbers of plants. One of the first plants to establish on bare ground in New Zealand is Mānuka. It is the first ‘pioneer’ in a natural process of reforestation and is the foundation for our sustainable Mānuka honey business.We plant up to 20,000 mānuka trees a year, as well as another 10,000 plants of other species, many of which produce nectar for birds and bees. Most of the plants are grown from seed and cuttings are taken from the property.

RESTORING OUR WETLANDS

Tahi encompasses a wide variety of different ecosystems. The dune vegetation on the surf beach gives way to diverse native forest on the hills further inland. Small lakes provide freshwater habitat for mullet and rare long-finned eels while mangroves and conserved salt marshes are home to kingfishers, rare fernbirds and banded rails.

Over a hundred years before we established Tahi, the land had been converted for farming, including drainage of all wet areas and the channelling of all streams. Now, fourteen wetlands have been reintroduced, ranging in size from a few square metres to up to five-hectare lakes. The estuarine salt marsh, home to a remnant population of fernbirds, has been reinstated after it was drained and blocked from seawater – and the fernbirds have flocked back too.

As well as encouraging the return of native birds and fish, our wetlands help recharge groundwater and ensure we have adequate water to keep our farm, flora and fauna hydrated through Northland’s drier summer months.

REGENERATING OUR SAND DUNES

Tahi’s remote and stunning coastal dunes were the site of earliest human occupation. Local Māori used the dunes for hangi (barbecue pits) and hunted the coastal moa (a large flightless bird, similar to an emu or cassowary). Eggshell and gizzard stones are all that remain of this once plentiful but now extinct bird although it is possible to find fragments of moa shell on the beach today.Many of the local dune plants have declined after a century of farming, including sand daphne (Pimelea villosa). Tahi is home to a large population of this regionally rare plant, which is a species in national decline. Together with the New Zealand Dunes Trust and QEII Trust, we’re taking part in an experimental restoration programme, which also involves reestablishing naturally cohabiting dune species along the coast of Tahi.

As well as encouraging the return of native birds and fish, our wetlands help recharge groundwater and ensure we have adequate water to keep our farm, flora and fauna hydrated through Northland’s drier summer months.

OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS

There’s a good reason we feature native New Zealand birds on our packaging. That’s because conservation is at the heart of Tahi, and everything we do. Where once our land had 14 bird species, we now have 70 – including native Kiwi and 23 rare and threatened species (more than some of New Zealand’s national parks!).

Ethical, in Every Way

OUR FRIENDS, THE BEES

We respect and care for our bees. This means our honey is as natural as nature meant it to be: with no added sugar water, corn syrup, antibiotics or chemicals. And our bees seem to respect us in return. We hardly ever wear gloves when we’re working with them, which is sign of a well-cared-for hive.

IT’S WHAT WE DON’T DO THAT MATTERS

At Tahi, we don’t use pollen traps because they can damage bees’ delicate wings, nor do we collect bee venom as it can harm or even kill bees. And, rather than stripping our hives of honey, we leave our bees with a box of honey per hive to keep them well fed over winter months – because healthy bees make healthy honey!

BEEKEEPING IS IN OUR BLOOD

Our family’s love of beekeeping (and the environment) goes back many generations. Together with our hard- working team, we’ve spent over a decade restoring Tahi into a world-class wetland sanctuary and ecological retreat that benefits our local community today – and leaves a legacy for future generations.

ETHICALLY MANAGED. RESPONSIBLY HARVESTED

Tahi Honey is ethically gathered from a range of diverse, wild habitats around some of Northland, New Zealand’s most remote locations. Typically, when honey is extracted from hives, many commercial companies remove all the honey and pollen, leaving nothing for the bees to feed on over winter. At Tahi, we leave a box of honey per hive so that our bees are sustained over winter by eating their own rich, natural honey and pollen – just as nature intended. This honey contains the critical natural and diverse sources of carbohydrate and protein they need to remain healthy.

NO POLLEN TRAPS, NO BEE VENOM FOR US

Many commercial companies remove most pollen from the bees as they enter the hive, through the use of pollen traps. The bees are then fed artificial sources of pollen.

At Tahi, we DO NOT subject our bees to this practice, as we believe that pollen traps damage the delicate wings of bees. More importantly, it doesn’t make sense to us to deprive our bees of their health! Stored pollen is the nutritionally rich currency used for colony growth.

You see, bees, like all creatures, require 10 essential amino acids for development, brood rearing and reproduction. For bees, the source of these amino acids is pollen1. Since 1977, it’s been known that bees that are provided with pollen live more than twice as long as those without.2 Researchers found that colonies lacking pollen had high worker mortality, no interest in caring for their queen and remained weak

Our ethical management of bees extends further: Tahi does not collect bee venom as we believe it can harm or even kill bees.

THE MORE POLLEN, THE MORE BEES

Research has shown that honey bee larvae need enough protein in their brood food to ensure proper development and to optimise their growth during the winter. In 1936, Farrar3 showed that the quantity of stored pollen within a colony in the fall (autumn) significantly correlated with its spring adult bee population. In other words: the more pollen, the more bees. Other studies have further reinforced the importance of natural pollens on hive health.4 5

What’s more, experts such as Christina Grozinger, Professor of Entomology and Director of the Center for Pollinator Research, Penn State University, USA, have found that feeding honey bees a natural diet of pollen makes them significantly more resistant to pesticides than feeding them an artificial pollen diet.

WHY TAHI’S BEES DON’T POLLINATE CROPS

Tahi Honey comes only from hives placed in wild, natural habitats, and never mono-floral commercial orchards. We DO NOT use our bees for commercial pollination to ensure that high levels of natural pollens remain in Tahi honey.

Why? Because intensive farming of monofloral crops reduces bee habitats and replaces multiple food sources with single, often less nutritious, sources.6 It’s believed that this, together with exposure to pesticides and fungicides, may create environmental stressors that are factors in the die-off (Colony Collapse Disorder) of bees.7 Many studies have shown that that pollen from a variety of sources makes bees more resistant to stresses by enhancing their immune systems.8

Pollen from different plants varies in nutritional value. Some pollen, like sunflower pollen, has insufficient nutritional value for bees9. Therefore, a sound practice is to ensure a wide range of pollen is available. In New Zealand, bees are used to pollinate kiwifruit but this plant offers no nectar and so the bees must be fed sugar.

Recently researchers discovered “that most of the crops that the bees were pollinating appeared to provide their hives with little nourishment”.10 In fact, when researchers in the USA collected pollen from bees foraging on crops such as blueberries and watermelon, they found the pollen came from other flowering plants in the area, not from the crops.

NO CHEMICALS PLEASE FOR OUR BEES

Research has shown that honeybees used to pollinate crops are exposed to a wide variety of agricultural chemicals, including common fungicides that impair the bees’ ability to fight off potentially lethal parasites.

Pollen samples from these hives contained nine different agricultural chemicals, including fungicides, insecticides, herbicides and miticides. Sub-lethal levels of multiple agricultural chemicals were present in every sample, with one sample containing 21 different pesticides. Honeybees are known to entomb this pollen to remove it from consumption in the hive.

Many crops are treated with systemic insecticides
by dressing the seeds or treating the soil. Plants like sunflowers and maize absorb these insecticides and secrete them in nectar and pollen; bees then collect this and take it back to their hives.

All good reasons to choose honey from bees that roam freely in some of New Zealand’s most remote, untouched environments: with no added chemicals and in fact, no added anything.

GUIDES AND GUARDIANS

At Tahi, we follow a sustainable philosophy we call the ‘4Cs’: community, culture, conservation and commerce. These guide us in every decision we make: from conserving wildlife to using 100% renewable energy; from preserving local culture to teaching future generations to take care of our planet – and our bees.

As well as encouraging the return of native birds and fish, our wetlands help recharge groundwater and ensure we have adequate water to keep our farm, flora and fauna hydrated through Northland’s drier summer months.

COMMUNITY MATTERS

Tahi is all about community and partnerships. We work with local landowners so that we can place our hives on some of the most beautiful, untouched land in the world (and we believe in paying them fairly). We support local businesses, create local jobs and we’re big believers in helping to preserve local culture too.

SHARING THE BUZZ

Most weeks, Tahi turns into a hive of activity as we host schools, open days and beekeeper education events, sharing our knowledge and our love of bees with our ‘Bees in Schools’ programme. It’s our way of ensuring that future generations know how important it is to be a bee.

1. Keller IP, Fluri P and Imdorf A. (2005) Pollen nutrition and colony development in honey bees – Part 2. Bee World 86: 27-34. 2. Rinderer and Kathleen (1977) in Z Huang (2012) Terrestrial Arthropod Reviews 5: 175-189. 3.Farrar DL. (1936) Influence of pollen reserves on the 4.Mattila HR and Otis GW. (2006) The effects of pollen availability during larval development on the behaviour and physiology of spring-reared honey bee workers. Apidologie 37: 533-546. 5.Sagili RR and Pankiw T. (2007) Effects of protein- constrained brood food on honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) pollen foraging and colony growth. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 61: 1471-1478. 6. Huang Z. (2012) Pollen nutrition affects honey bee resistance. Terrestrial Arthropod Reviews 5: 175-189. 7. vanEngelsdorp D, Evans JD, Saegerman C, Mullin C, Haubruge E et al. (2009) Colony Collapse Disorder: A Descriptive Study. PLOS ONE (8): e6481. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006481. 8. Huang Z. (2012) Pollen nutrition affects honey bee resistance. Terrestrial Arthropod Reviews 5: 175-189. 9, 10. Schmidt LS, Schmidt JO, Rao H et al. (1995) Feeding preference of young worker honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) fed rape, sesame and sunflower pollen. Journal of Economical Entomology88: 1591-1595.