Frequently Asked Questions
You can contact us here and we will respond to you as soon as possible.
Or call us on +64 3 3588 817 Please note our office hours are Monday – Friday 8.30am – 4pm NZST.
We are available Monday – Friday between 8.30am – 4.30pm NZST.
To reach us outside of our office hours, please Contact us and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Proudly 100% New Zealand family owned and operated, since 1988.
Manuka South HQ is in Christchurch, New Zealand.
If you would like to order larger quantities of any of our products then please contact us here, and provide us with more details of what you are after, and the quantity and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Yes, it is. The Manuka South website uses the industry standard SSL protocol, which encrypts your information as it is transmitted over the internet. To make sure you are accessing a secure server, check for the unbroken key or closed lock symbol located generally either at the bottom left, bottom right or top right of your browser window. If this appears, then SSL is active. You can double check this by looking at the URL as well. If SSL is active, then the first characters of that line will read ‘https’ rather than just ‘http’. It is also important that you keep your password secure. Please also ensure you logout when you have finished visiting www.manukasouth.com, especially if you access our website from a shared computer.
No. None of our products are tested on animals. It is very important to us that our beekeepers consider the welfare of their bee colonies and that is why we are very selective with our suppliers.
Everyone’s pregnancy and breast-feeding journey is different, and we recommend you speak with your health care professional before adding anything new to your diet.
We advise that you check with your local customs website as customs and import regulations vary widely between countries. Some of our products are prohibited for importation into certain countries.
You can find the Manuka South in all of New Zealand’s best tourist destinations and we export to several countries around the world. You can view these here.
You can be confident that your product is genuine if you purchase your Manuka South products from the Manuka South or the NZ Health Food website or one of our endorsed stockists that you can view here. However if you would like to check that your product is genuine if purchased elsewhere, please contact us directly and provide us with the details of where you purchased the product, and if possible, clear photos of the product itself. Once this has been received, we will investigate thoroughly as our customers safety is our top priority.
We are leaders in producing premium Mānuka honey and bee products without compromising on quality, always seeking to create the highest standard of product available.
The unique cellaring of our premium range of honey enables the UMF properties of the Mānuka honey to thoroughly develop and mature.
Each vintage and region are different, and our selection process enables us to enhance the individuality of the vintage, this is what distinguishes the Manuka South honey and gives it its hall mark complexity, integrity and consistency.
All Manuka South honey is blended in small batches to allow for our extensive quality control. The consistent low processing temperatures guarantees that our honey retains its natural health properties.
Family is at the heart of Manuka South with all of Rob and Lynda’s children working within the business. You can read more about us here.
Where possible we have listed the product ingredients on each product page. However, some of our products list only the active ingredients on the label.
If you have any questions regarding the ingredients, please contact us for more information.
It is always good to check this, and if you are ever unsure, please email us with a photo / batch number and we can look into this for you.
One way to check is ensuring our UMF license number #1053 is listed on the product. You can find out more on www.umf.org.nz
We advise that you check with your health care professional before taking any health supplements during your pregnancy.
We do not recommend that honey be given to children who are under the age of 12 months.
We advise anyone with diabetes to consult their healthcare professional before consuming honey.
We source our honey from Beekeepers throughout New Zealand. You can learn more about partnerships with our Beekeepers here.
Mānuka honey is derived from the nectar of the Mānuka flower. A scarce and natural resource found only in New Zealand. Mānuka honey has a very limited harvest period and can only be collected during flowering that only lasts for 2- 6 weeks each year. The honey is unique as it contains special health properties using to support digestion, health, and healing. Mānuka honey is a complex honey that goes far beyond a simple table honey.
The most genuine, high-grade Mānuka honey from New Zealand displays a UMF® rating on the label and packaging. This represents the unique signature compounds characteristic of this honey which ensure purity and quality. These include: the key markers of Leptosperin, DHA and Methylglyoxal.
This is a big topic that we dive more into over on our blogs however in short:
It is antibacterial: Mānuka honey has been proven time and time again to be a powerful weapon helping the body’s immunity against illness-causing bacteria. Not only does it help kill bugs, but it provides moisture and nourishment…double bonus!
Honey also has anti-inflammatory properties which have been harnessed by humans for centuries and used as a treatment for wounds and illness. When you apply Mānuka honey to inflamed skin, it can help reduce the redness, swelling and pain while remaining very gentle.
The Mānuka honey marketplace is crowded with many different ways of measuring the grading of the honey all presented by different honey companies to help sell their products.
The UMF Honey Association has a world-leading science programme that is focussed on identifying the unique signature compounds of genuine Mānuka honey, as a way of safeguarding consumers and the industry. UMF® stands for Unique Mānuka Factor. The most genuine, high-grade Mānuka honey from New Zealand displays a UMF® rating on the label and packaging. This represents the unique signature compounds characteristic of this honey which ensure purity and quality. These include: the key markers of Leptosperin, DHA and Methylglyoxal.
The honey bee collects nectar from the Mānuka flower and stores the nectar in its honey sac, to carry it back home. While the nectar is in the bee’s honey sack, it mixes with enzymes and proteins, which turns the nectar into honey. To thicken (cure) the honey, bees put it into the honeycomb where they store the honey and pollen and evaporate off the water in the honey by fanning their wings. The Mānuka flower only blooms for about 2-6 weeks per year.
Mānuka – is the Māori word for a small, scrubby tree with the convoluted Latin name of Leptospermum scoparium.
As long as Mānuka honey is stored properly (not exposed to too much heat, and out of direct sunlight - your honey will last well beyond its best before date.
Our Mānuka Honey is harvested in very secluded and top secret areas that are high density Mānuka forests, often only accessible by helicopter.
There are many ways that you can use Mānuka honey, it is part of the beauty of this product! The most popular ways that our customers use Mānuka are:
- Straight off the spoon
- Added to your meals
- Added to your drinks
- Directly added to wounds, cuts, and sores
It is a labour of love from the hive to the jar. Our hives are placed in the most pure and untouched locations around New Zealand often only accessible with helicopter which makes it a real challenge for our intrepid beekeepers to get to our hives.
The harvesting of Mānuka honey is unlike any other as the Mānuka bush only flowers for 4-6 weeks each year so our apiarist work very hard during this period to ensure we get premium Mānuka honey while also looking after the bees. The biggest impact on our harvest is mother nature and rain and cold weather can ruin a honey vintage. If the weather is bad during flowering, then the bees cannot harvest nectar from the Mānuka bush and will instead eat the honey in the hive. Ethical bee keeping is part of our core values, we therefore only work with apiarist that ensure the bees have enough honey to keep the hive healthy.
When the harvest has finished our beekeepers submit honey samples to the Manuka South HQ to be part of our selection process.All samples go through rigorous certified testing. Our technical team analyze the results and only choose honey that exceeds the industry standards.
When the tech team has ensured the honey meets all regulatory requirements, it then goes on to the selection team that look at the colour, texture and of course taste of the honey.
The honey selected for our Limited Reserve and premium range of UMF honey also goes through rigorous DHA (Dihydroxyacetone) testing. DHA, a precursor chemical of MGO, is found in the nectar of (Mānuka) in New Zealand. The DHA levels are often still relatively high in freshly harvested honey. Over a period of time, the DHA will convert to MGO in the honey, through a natural chemical process.
The honey that gets selected for our premium range is cellared in carefully temperature-controlled facilities to mature the honey to optimal UMF/MGO results.
The Limited Reserve Honey is harvested from the most isolated areas of New Zealand, then carefully aged to enhance the intricate flavor and UMF properties. It is here, in this rugged environment that the Mānuka bush flourish and the world's best honey is made.
It is the relationships with our family of beekeepers that we have nurtured over the last thirty years that enables us to select each vintage most remarkable honey and only the finest quality is selected for our limited reserve range. Each vintage and region is different and our selection process enables us to enhance the individuality of the honey, this is what distinguishes the limited reserve range and gives it its hall-mark complexity, integrity, and consistency.
The unique cellaring enables the distinctive properties of the Mānuka honey to thoroughly develop and mature and is why Manuka South consistently produces the highest standard honey available. The slow, gradual aging respects the qualities of the raw honey and guarantees that the natural enzymes are perfectly preserved, just the way nature intended.
The bespoke limited reserve box is individually handcrafted in New Zealand. The inspiration for the packaging comes from the humble hive with its wooden frame and honeycomb pattern.
We take pride in being able to personally guarantee the authenticity of this honey and each unit displays the serial number to ensure its validity.
The UMF Honey Association has a world-leading science programme that is focussed on identifying the unique signature compounds of genuine Mānuka Honey, UMF® stands for Unique Mānuka Factor. The most genuine, high-grade Mānuka honey from New Zealand displays a UMF® rating on the label and packaging. This represents the unique signature compounds characteristic of this honey which ensure purity and quality. These include: the key markers of Leptosperin, DHA and Methylglyoxal. .
The lowest UMF® rating number is 5+ and one of the highest is 28+. UMF® 28+ honey is very rare and not often seen in the marketplace. Any UMF® rating above 10+ has been historically described as ‘highly active’. ⠀
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Always look for the UMF® rating to be confident that you are getting the level of quality that is associated with UMF® testing.
Honey is a natural product, straight from the hive, so colour and texture will vary depending on many factors. Some of these are; the time of the year the honey has been harvested, the region it’s collected from and what flowers the bee have collected the nectar from. You can expect some natural variations of colour, texture and flavour from one batch to another.
Our Mānuka Honey Process;
1) Bees collect nectar from Mānuka flowers here in New Zealand.
2) The nectar is then made into honey by the bees and stored in the hive.
3) We collect the honey and then extract it.
4) The raw honey is then poured into drums and carefully matured in temperature-controlled facilities.
5) When the raw Mānuka honey has reached the ultimate maturing level it gets poured into the creaming tank and is creamed for around three days.
6) Next, we pack the honey straight into jars, ready for our customers.
No, we only filter our raw and unpasteurised honey to remove any unwanted bits of comb.
The recommended doze in New Zealand is 10g of honey each day to help with your immune health. This recommendation varies depending on country.
Serving size in New Zealand is one teaspoon per day
250g jar = 25 servings (one-month supply)
500g jar = 50 servings (two months’ supply)
1kg jar = 100 servings (four months’ supply)
Often referred to as bee glue. Propolis is a natural, non-toxic, resinous, and sticky substance that is produced by honeybees by combining tree resin with digestive secretions, beeswax, and pollen.
Propolis is extracted from the beehive using a special mesh that is placed inside the hive and collected in the summer months. You can read more about Propolis and it’s health benefits here.
Propolis contains antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant properties. Propolis is high in vitamins and minerals, including Vitamin B1, B2, B6, C, E, and P, calcium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and zinc. It also contains a high concentration of flavonoids, which contribute to beneficial amino acids and other compounds. For centuries, propolis has been used medicinally among different cultures, such as Ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Chinese.
Taking propolis every day over a long period of time, is a great way to help support you immune system.
We highly suggest our Premium Black Reserve Propolis that has three times more propolis per capsule than others on the market. The recommended dose is one convenient capsule per day, and deliveries a superior dose of flavonoids.
Bee Propolis is considered one of nature’s richest sources of bioflavonoids. Bioflavonoids (also known as ‘Flavonoids’) naturally occur in most fruits and vegetables, they’re also found in chocolate and red wine.
The flavonoid content is the most important marker on a label, as this denotes the potency of the propolis per capsule. Below is the flavonoid content of our propolis products:
- Propolis Soft Gels 500mg: flavonoid content of 24.
- Propolis Capsules 700mg: flavonoid content of 40.
- Extra Strength Propolis Soft Gels: flavonoid content of 48.
- Propolis Extract: flavonoid content of 33.
- Black Reserve Propolis Soft Gels: flavonoid content of 72.
This superior strength means you only need to take one capsules daily – making it perfect for people who don’t enjoy taking too many pills!
Our Propolis extract is in liquid form that can be easily mixed with water or applied directly to the skin. Simply add 3-4 drops of half a glass of warm water before gargling twice daily.
We advise that you check with your health care professional before giving propolis to your child.
Royal jelly is a thick substance produced in the glands of worker honeybees. It is used to feed budding Queen bee larvae to ensure they develop into big, healthy, reproductively active Queen bees. It is Royal jelly which makes Queen bees all the more physically grand than the rest of the bees in the hive and develops their anatomy so they can lay the next generation of honeybees. Queen bee larvae are given a far larger dosage of royal jelly than regular worker bees. They are practically swimming in it! Royal jelly has been using this gelatinous bee product for decades as a dietary supplement due to the nutritional and health benefits it provides. It contains water, proteins, sugars, fatty acids and trace amounts of many vitamins, everything required to nourish a nursery of Queen bee larvae.
Royal jelly and honey are two of the best natural, health-supporting substances we are lucky enough to have access to, thanks to honeybees.
Royal jelly is most commonly sold in the form of capsules for a fast and easy way to experience the benefits daily.
Produced by worker bees to nourish the Queen Bee, Royal jelly is packed full of amazing nutrients, such as amino acids, antioxidants and B-Vitamins as well as trace amounts of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium, and selenium.
Royal jelly is the only known natural source of 10-HDA (10-Hydroxy-2-decenoic acid) which is believed to help maintain hormonal balance and support collagen production.
The higher the HDA levels within Royal jelly – the stronger and the better for you.
Our Extra Strength Royal Jelly contains 1,000mg with 1.1% 10-HDA per capsule. This is our strongest form of Royal jelly.
10-HDA (10-Hydroxy-2-decenoic acid), sometimes known as “Queen bee acid”, is a naturally occurring fatty acid that is known for supporting skin renewal and general wellbeing. It is only found in Royal Jelly and cannot be created artificially.
Chat to your doctor if you have type 2 diabetes and are considering taking Royal jelly. Similarly, if you are suffering from high blood pressure, make sure you consult with your doctor first. It always pays to discuss any new supplements or natural remedies with your doctor before starting, just to ensure they will not react or mingle negatively with any existing medications.
Royal Jelly can cause severe Allergies in some people. As such we do not recommend for asthma or allergy sufferers
Bee pollen is a very popular natural food supplement and one of the original superfoods. Bee pollen is made by honeybees and fed to the young bees. It contains a large number of important nutrients that are beneficial to humans. It is rich in protein – around 40%, and includes vitamins such as B vitamins, D, E and K, as well as minerals such as magnesium, selenium, silica, and zinc. These are only just some of the nutrients that can be found in Bee pollen, and because of its high protein content is considered an excellent source of protein for vegetarians. As a natural product (no synthetics like in many multi-vitamins) the body can recognize these nutrients and utilize them straight away in the body. You can find out more about Bee pollen here.
Bee pollen can help with many things. Because of its amazing nutrient profile, it may help support energy production, so it can be helpful for fatigue and increasing stamina. This perfectly balanced ‘super-food’ has many other health benefits and support skin rejuvenation, brain functions such as memory and control of optimum metabolism.
Simply take 2-3 teaspoons daily, with food.
Please check with your health care professional if you have any concerns.
Some people may have a reaction to bee products, and this includes Bee Pollen. If you want to try, you can start with a very small amount say 1/2 tsp to begin and watch for a reaction. Slowly work your dose up to 1-3 tsp per day. For those who know they have a bee allergy, you are best to avoid Bee Pollen all together.
New Zealand orders usually take 2-3 working days.
International orders are dispatched using DHL Express, who offer worldwide fully tracked delivery in 1-5 business days.
Please note: Any import duties or taxes, which are levied by the authorities of your country once the product reaches your country, are at your cost.
Absolutely! We ship to many international destinations. To check if we ship to your country, please an item(s) in your shopping cart and proceed to checkout, where you will be able to select the shipping destination from the list of countries. If we are unable to ship to your country – it will show as ‘no shipping options available’.
For expected delivery times please visit our shipping page. Please note that these are estimated time frame, not guaranteed. There can occasionally be delays when orders enter the receiving country which are out of our control. If you have not received your parcel within a reasonable timeframe, then please contact us at customerservice@manukasouth.com along with your order details and we will investigate it for you.
Customs and import regulations vary widely between countries. Some of the products we sell via this website are prohibited for importation into certain countries. Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to be aware of all of the regulations specific to each country that we ship to. We do however try to highlight any import restrictions via the ‘shipping’ page.
Any import duties or taxes, which are levied by the authorities of your country once the product reaches your country, are at your cost. Manuka South Co Ltd accept no liability for the refund/replacement of any goods or any costs relating to, or arising from, the importation or confiscation of any goods by your countries Customs Office or other government body.
As a generalized rule of thumb, if your parcel is over 2kg in total weight then the list of countries that can ship product to without issues is reduced considerably.
Please contact us on customerservice@manukasouth.com to discuss. Return costs must be covered by the customer.
Please contact us with your issue as soon as you receive the order so that we can look to resolve it for you as soon as possible. Please ensure that you send us a photo of the damaged item(s), the batch number, and your order number. This information is required for us to raise an investigation with our shipping provider and to ensure that this will not happen again.
If for some reason you need to cancel your order, please call us as soon as possible and provide us with your order number. Please note that we are unable to cancel orders that have already been dispatched.
We currently accept Amex, Visa and Mastercard payments. We offer a secure payment system to give our customer piece of mind. None of our customers credit card information are stored.
We work hard to ensure that all products on our website are currently in stock. You may have purchased multiple units of a product when only a limited number was available. We strive to keep all our products available, however there may be occasions when we are unable to source more stock and will process a refund to your payment method instead.
We offer free shipping within New Zealand on all orders over $75. Orders under $75 are just $4.99 for urban delivery and $8.99 for rural addresses.
For international orders the cost of shipping depends on the weight of the order and is calculated at the checkout page. To find out more about our shipping terms and conditions please click here.
