Our determination is to bring to the world a Honey entirely honest in nature, by keeping it RAW without the need for secondary processing. Subjecting Manuka to high temperatures just isn't in our thinking! Subsequently, our Raw Mānuka Honey has up to 15 times more bio-available bee bread and pollen than other leading brands, providing higher levels of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that are easily absorbed by the body.

At Steens we believe nature knows best and therefore when separating off the wax, using our proprietary whole comb technology, we maintain temperatures that occur naturally in the beehive. We control any undesirable fermentation in our honey by ensuring the moisture content of the honey is kept within very strict parameters.  

Whilst other companies use a ‘Prick and Spin’ method, we use a ‘Scrape and Separate’ method. The ‘Prick and Spin’ method used by others involves needles being used to prick each cell of the comb. The honey is then heated enough to allow it to be forced out of the comb cells using a centrifugal spinning machine, leaving any larger properties like bee-bread inside the honeycomb.

Steens proprietary wholecomb technology uses the ‘Scrape and Separate’ method, where the entire front of the honeycomb is scraped off, allowing the rich honey to ooze out of the wax casings, bringing with it all the live enzymatic properties like methylglyoxal, non-peroxide activity and pre-biotic enzymes, as well as protein rich bio-available bee bread, wax and pollen particles. In fact, Steens® Raw Mānuka Honey contains up to 15 times MORE bio-available bee pollen and bee bread than any other leading brand of Manuka Honey. This takes a lot more time and care but when dealing with one of the world’s most premium honeys, we believe it’s worth the effort! The naturally occurring honey crystals that are synonymous with Steens Raw Honey form due to the moisture in the honey reacting with the natural sugars created in the hive and will only form in real, raw honey.

This is a challenge we face in in the honey industry due to lack of consistency in policies around unpasturized and raw food labelling globally.

The origins of pasteurising foods goes back the turn of last century. It is typically used in food processing to achieve food preservation.

Honey is pasteurised to control crystallisation and eliminate fermentation via killing yeast cells however in doing so it destroys some of the nutritional properties including enzymes.

Studies have shown that food enzymes are damaged at temperatures over 40°C / 104°F.

Most Manuka honeys marketed as raw honey are in fact creamed honeys that have been heated several times and pasteurised at 66°C / 150°F.

To determine if your honey has been pasteurised or raw - ask the brand what the maximum temperature their honey has been processed and has it been filtered?

CONVENTIONAL
EXTRACTION – WHAT IT LEAVES BEHIND

The conventional method of honey extraction for Manuka is known as ‘prick and spin’, this technique involves piercing the individual
honey cells, then inserting the frame into a centrifugal spinner and forcing the liquid honey out. This process leaves the honey cells (wax) mostly intact on the bee frames but is wasteful in that it also leaves behind the nutritious bee bread, pollen and a higher percentage of honey.

WE ARE BEEKEEPERS

In the Manuka Honey industry , the beekeepers, extraction facilities and brand of Manuka can often all be different companies. At Steens our family bee keeping operations, extraction and packing facilities are all based under the same roof at our modern facility based in the Wairarapa, New Zealand. Having full control over our product has allowed us to do things differently.

STEENS® PROPRIETARY WHOLE COMB TECHNOLOGY™

At Steens we saw an opportunity to improve on conventional honey extraction and handling techniques to deliver more of the whole honey in a pot. Over a period of several years we developed and tested different methods of harvesting using custom built equipment. The final proprietary method we settled on is one that maximises the nutritional properties of the entire honeycomb – thus the name Whole Comb™.

Using our proprietary Whole Comb Technology™ we
minimally process once without the need for secondary processing. We scrape the honeycomb from our bee frames including; any crystallised honey, pollen, bee bread and wax. To separate out the wax we use only temperatures that would naturally occur in the beehive and centrifugal force. Then after a coarse filter, to remove any impurities, our honey is ready to pack and eat!

BEE BREAD

Bee Bread is among one of the oldest dietary supplements
known to man. It is widely recognised as a nourishing and complete natural food. Steens honey is unique to other Manuka honeys because it contains the highest levels of a substance called bee bread. You may have already heard about bee pollen and how nutritious it is.

Bee bread is the result of plant pollen that is taken into the hive by the bees. The bees add extra enzymes, microbial secretions and
honey to pollen stored within the honeycomb. It then undergoes a lactic acid fermentation process which breaks down the hard outer shell of plant pollen, making it easier for humans to digest. Bee bread is the food the worker bees use to make royal jelly.

At Steens our Whole Comb™ technology retains high levels of this precious substance within our honey.

BEE BREAD IS RICH IN:

• Protein: high in amino acids
  
• Minerals: iron, cobalt, phosphorus, calcium, selenium and potassium
  
• B-group vitamins and flavonoids
  
• Plant phenols
  
• Bio-availability - At least 3 times more bio-available than regular flower or bee pollen

 The Steens Team all enjoy this honey on their tables at home, and are committed to bringing you what we consider to be the very best, 100% natural, pure raw honey from New Zealand even if it means taking more time and effort than most to harvest and bottle. We believe in the power of nature and taking time to create what is best for you, for us and for the world we live in.

Useful references

1. Subramanian. R (2006) Processing of Honey: A review. International Journal of Food Properties.

2. Utah department of agriculture & food.

3. Blasa. M (2006) Raw Millefiori honey is packed full of antioxidants. Food Chemistry.

4. Dyce, E.J. 1975. Producing finely granulated or creamed honey.