Product Highlight: Australian Native Bee Sugarbag Honey

Honey... What does that word make you think of? Toast, pancakes or scones drizzled with honey? Breakfast food such as Weet-Bix, cornflakes, muesli or porridge? Honey soy chicken? Honey mustard gravy?

Never mind what you use it for... What is honey? Where does it come from? What are the health benefits of it? And what on earth is "sugarbag"??

Note: I am not a scientist or expert of any kind, so this is an article repeating another person's in-depth studies of native bees and sugarbag rather than my own expertise or knowledge in the area. My main reference for information about these sugarbag bees is "The Australian Native Bee Book" by Tim Heard, an entomologist and expert about Australian native bees. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in learning more about sugarbag bees!

What is Honey?

Honey is a product produced by honeybees. The worker bees collect pollen and nectar, which they take into the hive to be used and stored. Through a process of evaporation by passing the nectar from mouth to mouth, the bees make the nectar into honey, which they then store in honeycomb cells and cap for later use.

Capped honeycomb

It is said that honey contains a variety of nutrients, is rich in antioxidants, promotes burn and wound healing, helps suppress coughs, and may improve heart health.

But that is all about honey made by honeybees... What about honey made by Australian native "sugarbag" bees?

What is "Sugarbag"?

According to some experts, honey is not honey unless it's made by actual honeybees, which means that honey made by native bees does not actually fall into the category of honey. Aussies call their native honey "sugarbag", a name that is obviously English but was popularised by the Aborigines. In this blog post, I will refer to honey made by honeybees as "honey", and honey made by native bees as "sugarbag".

Nectar is collected by foraging bees and regurgitated to other worker bees within the hive. The nectar is then put into storage in "honeypots" (see About Sugarbag Bees), where it is made into sugarbag through a process of dehydration, increasing the sugar content, and adding enzymes. It also becomes more acidic through this process of "ripening".

Sugarbag has a totally different flavour from honey - a bit like the comparison between chicken meat and duck meat. It's richer and more flavourful, with what some people describe as a lemony, eucalyptusy, fruity, fermented or winy flavour. This flavour is dependent on what nectar the bees have collected and the propolis used for making their storage "honeypots". Sugarbag bees tend to store their honey and pollen in the same area of the hive, which often results in a presence of pollen in sugarbag. This is because during the extraction process pollen often tends to get mixed into the honey, which also contributes to the fermented flavour of the sugarbag.

Sugarbag honey - you can buy some from us here

Health Benefits of Sugarbag

• Sugarbag contains a unique sugar - trehalulose - which is a healthier sweetener with a low GI (Glycaemic Index), theoretically making it good for diabetics. It also does not cause tooth decay.

• Sugarbag has excellent antimicrobial properties.

• Sugarbag may be an effective remedy for allergies.

• Sugarbag has a higher water content than honey, making it runnier.

• Sugarbag also has higher acidity than honey, sometimes making it have an almost sour flavour.

• To slow the fermentation of sugarbag, store in the fridge.