Queensland manuka · Pre-order now

Australia's top tea trees. One coast. Our bees.

The two tea trees that scored highest in Australia for the compound that becomes MGO both grow on the heath between Noosa and Rainbow Beach. Murray's hives work it while they flower, and every batch is lab tested before its number goes on the lid.

From $32 In the same squeeze bottle as our honey. Gift packs posted free.

Shop manuka Why this coast

Farmgate Honey manuka in the clear squeeze bottle with a yellow cap and the pink label: Manuka, honey from the Cooloola coast, 1kg

Pre-order Ships when its certificate lands

Lab tested, every batchGift packs posted freeNoosa to Rainbow BeachOne of Australia's three manuka hot spotsSecond generationOver 1,400 hivesThe number on the lidPosted Australia wide

Queensland manuka, in squeeze bottles

Pre-order now at our MGO 250+ price. Each bottle ships as soon as its batch's lab certificate is back, expected in October, and nothing is charged until then.
Queensland Manuka Honey in a clear squeeze bottle, the pink manuka label with a flowering tea tree drawn on the front (a render of the new label, coming this season)

Queensland Manuka Honey

Queensland Manuka Honey
$32
Two 1kg bottles and a 250g bottle of Queensland Manuka Honey with the pink manuka label (a render of the new label, coming this season)

Queensland Manuka, Pantry

Queensland Manuka, Pantry
$169
Two 500g bottles of Queensland Manuka Honey with the pink manuka label (a render of the new label, coming this season)

Queensland Manuka, Pair

Queensland Manuka, Pair
$99
Three 250g bottles of Queensland Manuka Honey with the pink manuka label (a render of the new label, coming this season)

Queensland Manuka, Gift Trio

Queensland Manuka, Gift Trio
$85
The Farmgate Honey Christmas Box: a kraft gift box with two bottles of pink-label manuka and a beeswax candle (a render of the new label, coming this season)

The Farmgate Honey Christmas Box

The Farmgate Honey Christmas Box
$119

The price

The lab sets the price

Manuka is priced by its number, so ours is too. Neither of this season's batches has its number yet: both are at the lab, with certificates expected in October. Each batch is then priced on its own certificate. Per 250g:

Pre-order price protection. Order before the certificate and you pay the MGO 250+ price, however high the number comes back. If it comes back under 250, we'll tell you before anything ships: take the lower grade at its lower price, or cancel and pay nothing.

  • MGO 100+ $24 per 250g
  • MGO 250+ $32 per 250g. Today's pre-order price
  • MGO 400+ $44 per 250g
  • MGO 550+ $60 per 250g

Every bottle comes with its paperwork.

Every bottle comes with

  • Its own MGO, from its own batch's lab certificate, printed on the lid.
  • Its region and season, Rainbow Beach or Noosa, and when it came off the hives.
  • A code that opens its page. Punch it in at /trace to see the batch and its certificate.
  • Honey from our own hives, extracted by the family at Peak Crossing. Nobody in between.
  • Pre-order price protection. You pay the MGO 250+ price, however high the number comes back.

What you'll never find on it

  • A health claim. It's food, and we sell it as food.
  • A number without paperwork. If we can't show you the certificate, it doesn't ship.
  • A borrowed country. It's Australian manuka from Queensland, and the label says so.
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Why this coast

The numbers behind the bottle

Manuka is only as good as the tea trees the bees work. Here's what grows where ours comes from.

  • #1 & #2 The two highest-scoring of 55 Australian tea trees for DHA, the compound that becomes MGO. Both grow on this coast.
  • 1 of 3 South east Queensland is one of Australia's three manuka hot spots, found by testing more than 5,000 honeys.
  • 1,100 MGO reached by Queensland jelly bush honey in published research, among the highest recorded in Australia.
  • 5 Tea trees that make manuka, flowering one after another on this coast from August to January.
  • 83 of 87 The world's manuka tea tree species that grow in Australia. New Zealand has one.
  • 0 Bottles that leave our shed without their batch's lab certificate.

Sources: Williams et al., Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2018 (55 species). AgriFutures Australia, 2019 (5,000+ honeys). Cokcetin et al., PLOS ONE, 2016 (MGO results and species count).

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Where ours comes from

Two batches. One coast.

Wallum is the low, flowering heath on the deep white sand of the south Queensland coast. Between Noosa and Rainbow Beach it runs for about 50 km behind the surf, and it's one of the few places in Australia where the tea trees that make manuka grow side by side.

This season's manuka came off two stretches of it. Each is its own batch, tested on its own.

This season's batches

Drop a hive on the drawn map and see what grows within its reach, and what's in flower each month.

See what a hive can reach
Map of the coast from Noosa north to Rainbow Beach and K'gari, with the tea tree heath of Cooloola shaded, and a pin at Rainbow Beach, and a pin at Noosa Tin Can Bay Tewantin DoubleIsland Pt LakeCootharaba K'gari Wide Bay COOLOOLA tea tree heath N 10 km Rainbow Beach MK-2609-01 Noosa MK-2609-02
Drawn to scale. Pins show a batch's region, not a hive site.
Murray Arkadieff lifting a frame from a hive at sunset

The beekeeper

You've got to really chase the honey every year.

Murray Arkadieff, second generation beekeeper

For manuka, chasing it means moving hives to the coast while the tea trees flower. He moves them at night, when the bees are home. "It's like having 60 people in an elevator."

Then it's back to the shed at Peak Crossing, where the family extracts it and every batch goes to the lab.

Meet the family

Guess the MGO

Nobody knows the number yet. Not even Murray.

Our first two manuka batches, one from Rainbow Beach and one from Noosa, are at the lab. Put in your guess and your email. The day the certificate lands, we'll email you the real number and how close you got.

For scale: shop manuka starts around MGO 100, 250 is a common grade, and 550 and up sits at the top of the shelf.

No prize, just the bragging rights. One email with the number, the day it's in.

First bottles

First bottles, every batch

One email the day a new batch's lab certificate lands, with its number. The list hears before the shop does.

One email per new batch. Nothing else.

Questions

Questions about our manuka

What is MGO?

Methylglyoxal. It forms naturally in manuka honey from DHA, a compound in the nectar of certain tea trees, and it's what manuka is graded by. The number is milligrams per kilogram of honey.

How does pre-ordering work?

Order from any manuka page at our MGO 250+ price and we'll reply with the total. Each bottle ships as soon as its batch's lab certificate is back, expected in October, and nothing is charged until then. Gift packs are posted free, Australia wide.

What if the number comes back higher, or lower?

Higher, and you keep the pre-order price. Under 250, and we'll tell you before anything ships: take the lower grade at its lower price, or cancel and pay nothing. The full price ladder is further up this page, under "The lab sets the price".

What will the MGO be?

We'll know when the lab does. Each bottle ships once its batch's certificate is back, and the number goes on the lid and on the batch page at the same time.

Isn't manuka from New Zealand?

Mānuka is the Māori name for Leptospermum scoparium, New Zealand's one species of this tea tree. Australia has most of the rest: 83 of the world's 87 species grow here, including the ones on this coast. Queensland and New South Wales beekeepers knew it as jelly bush honey long before the word manuka caught on here. Ours is Australian manuka from Queensland, and it says so on the label.

Is it the same as tea tree oil?

No. Tea tree oil is distilled from the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia, a paperbark. Manuka comes from the nectar of Leptospermum tea trees, a different plant that happens to share the name.

When is it harvested?

When the tea trees flower: August to January on this coast, most of it in September and October. A strong flow doesn't come every year, so neither does a batch.

Does the number change?

Slowly, yes. MGO keeps forming from the DHA left in the honey for months after harvest, and heat breaks it down. So the bottle carries that batch's test result, and the honey is happiest in a cool cupboard.

Is it good for you?

It's honey, and we sell it as food. You won't find health claims on our labels or on this site. What we can tell you is the number, the coast and the season, and we always will.

How do people eat it?

Off the spoon, mostly. On hot buttered toast, stirred through yoghurt, or on a cheese board next to something sharp.

Where are the hives?

We move hives to follow the flowers. For manuka, that's the coast between Noosa and Rainbow Beach while the tea trees are out. Every batch traces to its region and season, not to a paddock.

What about propolis?

It comes from the same hives and it's on the way. Ask below and we'll let you know.

Can I buy it for my shop or café?

Yes. Use the form below and tell us what you're after, or see the wholesale page.

Buying for a shop, deli or kitchen?

Tell us what you're after and we'll tell you what's tested and what's coming.