Our craft
begins here
Haddrell’s is a protector of our ecosystem through excellent bee keeping practices. We have great respect for our bees and their life's hard work. Follow our team as they take mānuka honey from hive to pot.
Where the journey begins
Mānuka trees grow in our native forests mostly found in remote regions of New Zealand.
A hive of activity
We place our hives in these regions to get the best quality honey.
Caring for our bees
All year round our team takes care of the bees and maintains the hives to ensure they are ready for the mānuka season.
Blooming with goodness
Mānuka flowers bloom for between 2-6 weeks in December, New Zealand's summer season.
Busy little bees
Our bees collect the unique mānuka nectar from the flowers and bring it back to the hives where they make the honey.
A labour of love
Each hive has a number of vertical honey frames which contain honeycomb cells the bees have made. The bees deposit the fresh nectar in the honeycomb cells, fan it with their wings to reduce the moisture, and cap each cell with a wax layer to preserve the honey.
Monitoring the hives
When hives have reached their full capacity, or when the mānuka flowering season is over, our team collect the hives and bring them back to our extraction plant.
Extracting the honey
Each frame is put in a honey extractor which de-caps the wax layer on the honeycomb cells. The frames are spun using the machine's centrifugal force to extract the liquid honey from the cells.
Storing our liquid gold
The honey is transferred to drums and stored in optimal conditions allowing it to mature. Every batch of Haddrell’s mānuka honey is tested for its unique properties.
Packaged for honey lovers
Haddrell’s mānuka honey is carefully packaged before being exported the world over for mānuka honey lovers to enjoy a special taste of Aotearoa/New Zealand.