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Hungry For Change

There is a NEW movie from the people who produced Food Matters.  If you haven't seen Food Matters, it is a must watch and this one will be too!  We all need to start taking care of our health. Here is their great 10 step action plan.  Go to their website to print a copy of the plan and to find out more information 10 STEP ACTION PLAN Make these simple additions to your life and watch your health improve. You can even print this out and put this on your fridge!1. ADD FRESHLY S...

Weston A Price

It’s an odd reality but since the mid 20th century the West has gone from a scarcity of food to an overabundance of it.  And while this abundance should be a good thing somehow it has meant an industry of chemists, food technologist, marketers and big business have more influence on our food than those who grow and produce it.  The result has been that most of us eat a diet high in calories and very low in nutritional value.  We have a generation of people with food allergi...

Honey a Sweet Tasting Success for Family

Martin Lynch had been a hobbyist beekeeper for many years before he and his wife Stephanie realised bees could actually help diversify their income.  The couple purchased a 4.2 hectare block at Horsham Downs near Hamilton in 2002.  Martin, an electrical engineer, inherited a few beehives from his father and the couple set about building up their number of hives.Read Honey a Sweet Tasting Success for Family - Waikato Farming Lifestyles, March 2012...

Honey on Blacklist?!

This weekend there was an article in the NZ Herald that blacklisted honey as heavy in calories but light on nutrition!   They did stress that the guide is to help obese people identify what foods could be cut from their diet.  But we have had lots of people comment to us that it is blacklisted item and how crazy it is.  So I thought I would share some comments from the bee industry on the topic.Honey NZ manager Greig Duncan said he didn't think honey should be lumpe...

The Magic Box

I have to share with you a poem our nine year old son, Daniel, wrote this week.  It is so special!  The Magic Box I will put in the box The glittery gold of moneyThe wonderful thoughts of great storiesThe lovely taste of chocolate mousse on a warm summers evening I will put in the box The amazing golden brightness of sunlightA flower of my huge tall feijoa treeThe buzz of bees flying swiftly thought the air I will put in the box The five million year old tusk from a mammothMy...

Sweetree Products Showing at Taste of NZ

Are you going to the 'Taste of NZ', Victoria Park, Auckland - 19th - 22nd Oct? Taste incredible cuisine from New Zealand's best restaurants, discover gourmet products, meet award winning chefs including Rick Stein, Gary Rhodes, Annabel Langbein & Josh Emett - indulge with friends at Taste of New Zealand! FMNZ Chairperson and Chef Chris Fortune, Auckland based Author and Chef Julie Busio and Taste Magazines contributor Luca Villari, Carlos Atkinson  (Head Chef, Bowmans), Sal Grant,  (He...

Great Photo

Look at this great photo of Martin in the contents page of the Waikato Times Weekend.Published in Waikato Times Weekend, October 2011...

Teasing Out Honey's Flavours

Stephanie Lynch sits at her dining-room table with a lineup of honey jars and tasting spoons, and flavours that send her visitors to honey heaven. We try the lighter, creamy Four Brothers Reserve label with a slightly caramel flavour, the sweet Horsham Downs Country with big floral notes, then Marokopa Spring which is notable for its intense peppery finish. We talk as we taste, discussing the local flora and terroir in the way one might do at a wine tasting, teasing out the distinctive regional ...

Sweetree Name

Do you know how we came up with the name Sweetree?  When we first started the business we called ourselves 'Vitality' because our first product was Bee Pollen, which of course gives you vitality.  We had planned to on sell the honey to a packer, but when we tasted the honey from the wonderful Marokopa apiary it was amazing.  We thought 'everyone needs to taste it!'  Vitality didn't seem the right name for the honey so we brain stormed some ideas.  I (Stephanie) had watch...

Tongue Teasers

Four Brothers Reserve Raw Honey by Sweetree is local - it comes from that area between Hamilton and Raglan, on the deviation. You can buy if from the Vitality Bee Products stall at the Hamilton Farmers' Market on Sundays.Reported Rob Kidd tasted carefully, then said: "It's good. I've got a bit of a sore throat and it's sliding down nicely. I can con myself into thinking that it has medicinal qualities which is always good."Continue to read on Waikato Times Tempo Magazine, August 2011...

A Growing Market for a Gourmet Experience

From bee husbandry to harvesting, processing, packing and point of sale, artisan products Martin and Stephanie Lynch are involved in every aspect of their Vitality Bee Product honey and bee pollen. Martin (who works full time as an electrical engineer) handles the hives and Stephanie (a software data analyst) the rest. With two small children, they can attend only Hamilton Farmers' Market, but it's important for sales and profile. "People tell us how much they enjoy the honeys and the flavours, ...

Nourish Magazine Recipe

Check this recipe out in the Nourish Magazine, winter 2011...

The Life of Bees

Bees are fascinating creatures! Not only do they play a vital role in our eco system, they also provide us with honey. Honey is one of the only complete life sustaining foods in the world. It is also the only food eaten by humans that is produced by insects. So next time you smear it on your toast spare a thought for the bees. Just one twelth of a teaspoon of honey is the sum total of one bees life work. Luckily for us each hive is home to nearly 50 000 bees. What is really interesting is that ...

Sweet Delight

Bee keepers Martin and Stephanie Lynch have three Waikato apiaries and sell a range of location-specific honey from their Marokopa and Raglan sites, as well as bee pollen and honey from their Hamilton apiary. Among the range is the Marokopa Summer Honey, which is collected December-February from a hill country farm. It's a blend of rata and pasture honeys and has a smooth caramel taste with a strong finish.View the article Side dishes, sweet delight from Dish magazine......

Buzzing About Honey

Honey - one of the oldest known sweetners Honey is one of the oldest known sweetners.  It has been an essential part of our diet since time began and there is increased interest in its culinary and health properties. Not only delicious to eat, honey is hailed for its medicinal properties - it is anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and packed with highly valuable nutrients. It is considered a "complete food" with a complex balance of protein, enzymes and carbohydrates. In the Waikato the...

Sweetree Honey & Flora Grape Bavarois

...The first ingredient comes from Vitality Ltd, a boutique business specialising in quality honey.  Vitality's beekeeping operations are based in the Waikato and King Country. Their honey is sourced from the pristine Marokopa Valley and Waikato Farmlands. It is collected from a wide variety of plants, but predominantly willow, clover, gorse and buttercup.  Vitality owns and operates 100 beehives, each hive producing a range monoflora and multiflora honeys each year.Continue to read in...

Mixing in Pure Pollen

Chocolate with bee pollen Irish Fudge is a treat with coffee Whoever came up with the expression "busy as a bee" sure knew what they were talking about. This amazing insect makes an average of 10 pollen runs a day, flying from hive to flower and flower to hive as it gathers its bounty....For the purpose of this article I am going to use bee pollen dry granules from Vitality Ltd in Hamilton. Vitality Ltd was set up a year ago by Martin and Stephanie Lynch and partners James and Miriam Driscoll. I...

Tasting Sweet Success

A pooling of skills and talents has enabled two Horsham Downs families to establish their own honey business.  Stephanie and Martin Lynch moved onto their 4.2ha block North of Hamilton in 2002. Martin is an Electrical Engineer and inherited a small number of beehives from his father. The couple built up the number of hives to about 30 and collected bee pollen to sell to Comvita. Then James and Miriam Driscoll moved in next door. Their families got to know each other and, it turned out,...