What makes Australian Manuka honey the superior choice?

    At Biosota, we pride ourselves on producing high-quality Australian-made Manuka honey. While our New Zealand counterparts are also known for Manuka production, there are a few unique features that ensure Australian Manuka is unmatched in potency, purity and quality.

    Whether you are a Manuka newbie, a Biosota enthusiast or have used Manuka honey for generations, discover what makes our Biosota Manuka honey stand out.

    So what is Manuka honey?

    Manuka is a special type of honey known for its purity and health benefits. Manuka honey is made by bees who eat from flowers on the Manuka tree – a species of tree native only to Australia and New Zealand. Scientifically named the Leptospermum scoparium, some of the first Manuka trees originated in Australia, and there are claims they migrated to New Zealand from here.

    Manuka honey is renowned for its medicinal and health benefits and is graded by Biosota using lab testing to produce an MGO rating – the higher the rating, the higher the grade of your honey and its benefits.

    More is more: Australia’s unmatchable variety of Manuka

    The diversity of Australia’s Manuka trees is vastly superior to New Zealand. Australia is home to 83 species of Manuka, 12 of which have bioactive, medicinal properties, making them ideal for high-MGO Manuka production. In comparison, New Zealand has only one.

    Our iconic Australian bushland and warm climates create the thriving forests of Manuka. This means Biosota are able to maintain a potent food source for our bees that isn’t diluted by other plants or pollens.

    Biosota’s farmlands are also perfectly placed in rural New South Wales and Queensland to capture the most of our Manuka and ensures Biosota honey contains a high level of purity that competitors, both here and abroad, cannot match. 

    From bush to the table: as natural as it gets

    Manuka honey possesses so many medicinal benefits – not to mention its incredible flavour! That’s why Biosota believes in ensuring our Manuka is preserved at its most natural level. We pride ourselves on creating raw honey, meaning we’ve avoided any significant transformations from the original product. Our honey is left exactly as nature (and the bee that collected it) intended!

    The rich fullness of Biosota Manuka is created through the careful cold extraction of our honey from the hive. Biosota avoids heat in our honey-making process as it may kill natural enzymes and live bacteria that make Manuka honey so special.

    In comparison, many New Zealand Manuka products are ‘creamed’ to avoid crystalising and create a consistent texture. Crystalising is an entirely natural side-effect of honey but one many companies aim to remove purely for aesthetic.

    manuka bee

    Warm with a side of sunshine: Australia’s unbeatable climate

    Australian weather cannot be beaten. When Manuka season rolls around, our New Zealand buddies are still shaking off the frost, while Australia’s Manuka trees are thriving in the balmy warmth of spring. As Manuka flowering only lasts between two and six weeks of the year, our warm weather plays a leading role in Australia’s impeccable harvesting seasons.

    Not to mention, at Biosota, we use strategy and care to rotate our hives to sunny, sheltered sites across our farmland. And we consistently ensure our bees are placed near naturally abundant supplies of Manuka and water. This also means most Biosota Manuka honey products are certified organic. 

    Family-owned with beekeeping at its heart

    While Biosota uses stringent MGO lab tests and consistently liaises with experts, it’s our knowledge as beekeepers that keeps us at the top of the Australian market.

    At Biosota, beekeeping knowledge has been passed down for generations and is how the location of our family-owned farm was chosen.

    Our unspoiled farmland, nestled deep in the Australian bush, has proven its worth again and again. Their rural locations mean Biosota is able to produce Manuka honey away from the influence of chemicals or pollutants. This allows us to achieve our organic and non-GMO certifications. It also ensures our bees are unbothered by noise or distraction and can go about their harvest efficiently and calmly.

    Not only do these things give us an edge over our competition, but they continue to reaffirm our passion for producing high-quality honey.

    Even bees need a health check: maintaining MGO and quality. Always.

    Biosota’s unbeatable Manuka purity wouldn’t be possible without healthy hives and extensive lab testing.

    Our beekeepers complete regular health checks on our hives – testing the honey itself, checking pollen stores and looking for other key indicators that our bees are thriving. The colour and taste of our honey is also equally important in our Manuka production.

    Lab testing ensures we grade our Manuka’s MGO levels accurately and maintain a high-quality product. Independent testing at three different accredited laboratories has also found significantly high levels of cinteole and monoterpines in Biosota honey, making our MGO levels even higher than competitors and maintaining our superior standard.

    Key points: 

    • Some of the first Manuka species discoveries were in Australia and were believed to later migrate to New Zealand
    • Australia has an unmatchable variety of Manuka with 83 native species
    • Our iconic bushland and warm weather create the perfect climate for Manuka trees
    • Biosota’s farmland is perfectly placed to ensure our honey is pure and potent
    • Its rural location means our honey is 100% organic and non-GMO certified 
    • Biosota Manuka is created through careful cold extraction 
    • We use stringent lab testing to ensure our honey is of the highest quality

    If you want to know more, please check out our other resources and some of our certified organic, high-quality products.

    7 comments

    • Thank you for all your comments – Manuka honey certainly is an interesting topic! To address your questions:

      Anthony – yes, commercial honeybees were first introduced into Australia from Europe in the 1800s. However, honey ants play an important part in Australian Aboriginal culture as bush tucker!

      Steve – yes, Manuka bush is also known as Jelly Bush and is part of the Tea Tree family.

      Susie – our Manuka honey grades rang from MGO 100 right up to MGO 2000+. Generally, the higher the MGO number, the more active the Manuka honey and the more potent the medicinal benefits.

      Nancy – yes, all our Manuka honey is gluten-free and processed in a purpose-built factory that only produces honey.

      Rita – you can tell real, authentic Manuka honey by the grades and in Australia we primarily refer to MGO, ULF, and NPA. Our Manuka honey is independently lab tested for Authenticity and grade.

      Biosota Organics
    • What a great and deserving win for the AMHA!!
      I would be really interested if there is any evidence of ancient use by Australian Aboriginals? Speculating they would be the first humans to ever use?

      Anthony
    • Terrific information, and what deserving outcome for the AMHA! It might also warrant a mention that Australia has over 2000 native bee species against NZ 27 and ground dwelling but from what I understand, the vast Majority of current commercial production is from European bees in both AU and NZ? I would speculate Australian Aboriginals would have been the first humans to ever experience Manuka? Would be really interested if anyone had more info on this?

      Anthony
    • When you talk about manuka trees in Australia are you referring to the tee tree? Manuka is a native NZ word. There is a lot of confusion here.

      Steve Panas
    • Just wondering about the medicinal (aspects) and strength of the manuka honey.
      Is there a lot of difference between its grading of a honey being just 60 + or, should it be a higher grading of around 950+
      Thanks.

      Susie Rothwell

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