Recently winning two first-in-class gold medals and named Best International Honey at the UK’s 85th National Honey Show – the Oscars of world honey – Niue Honey is certified organic and unpasteurised, boasting a unique palate of caramel and malt, with none of the bitterness that many darker honeys have.
And while it may be the world’s best honey, it’s the extraordinary backstory that really sets Niue Honey apart.
Niue’s relative isolation makes it a paradise for bees. Niue houses what are believed to be the world’s last-known significant and sufficiently isolated disease- and parasite-free Italian honeybees (Apis mellifera ligustica – a species of bee that is responsible for most global pollination).
The Niue honeybees arrived in the 1960s from New Zealand, well before the bee maladies that have ravaged the world’s colonies.
Niue Honey’s website notes: “Niue’s bees have effectively been in a naturally and geographically enforced quarantine, but with the help of the Niuean government, the World Trade Organisation and the Standards and Trade Development Facility, Niue is busy developing an official bee sanctuary. We’re increasing biosecurity, securing ports and borders in order to protect these special bees. Much like Norway’s Global Seed Vault, the Pacific Bee Sanctuary is the world’s insurance policy on pollinators.”
Niue Honey also has the ability to breed and export pure, healthy queens and genetic bee-breeding material to help repopulate dwindling colony numbers worldwide.
“We’re not just helping the bees,” the website states. “There are a wider set of benefits that the Niue Honey Company brings to Niue and future island sites, including the provision of livelihood opportunities and increased agricultural productivity for Pacific Island communities. We provide revenue for local landowners with hive rental arrangements, as well as generate significant economic activity on-island and off-island via promotional activities. Our presence also contributes to native bush regeneration, helping to mitigate the effects of global warming and soil deterioration.
“On top of that, every single resident of Niue gets free honey from us.”
The story of Niue Honey is inextricably linked to Andy Cory, known locally as the ‘Honeyman’. He’s considered to be one of the Pacific’s leading apiculturists and is a specialist in queen breeding.
There’s a connection with another famous New Zealander. Andy used to help his dad with beekeeping – who was in turn originally taught by Sir Edmund Hillary.
Andy came to Niue in 1999 after responding to a tiny classifieds ad for a beekeeper for some ‘long-neglected hives’.
With local helpers, he rediscovered 240 of original 1960s hives dotted through the tropical Niuean bush.
Over a period of five years, Andy got the bees thriving again. The number of beehives increased to 1600 and Niue Honey began the process to become a certified organic supplier.
The devastating Tropical Cyclone Heta in 2004 was a great challenge to Andy and Niue Honey. The entire island was stripped of vegetation and huge waves covered everything in salt spray.
The website takes up the tale:
“Two thirds of the hives were lost – as well as Andy’s house.
“By creating a special sugar solution, Andy kept the bees nourished until the island’s plant life could recover. Slowly, he managed to bring the numbers up and just over 15 years later, we’d got hive numbers up to around 3000.”
Pacific Trade Invest New Zealand is proud to support the continued promotion of Niue Honey, through the Kai Pasifika 2023 – and future – events.
Richard Duncan of Niue Honey said, “Kai Pasifika has been an important step in the process of building awareness and our reputation in the market. Not only does this assist with sales in New Zealand, but it also gives us the validation and encouragement to launch into other international markets.
“To this end, we are now planning to introduce Niuean honey to Australian and US consumers in 2023 ... and then, the rest of the world beckons!”
