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The bee is one of the most important creatures on the planet: we rely on bees to pollinate around one third of the plants we eat, with ecosystems around the world depending on them for balance and survival.

One Perth local, Blaine Campbell, experienced their magic first hand. She cultivated a beautiful vegetable garden at home with one problem, there were no veggies! Her husband Tristan suggested a beehive for pollination, sending Blaine into a two year spiral of researching and reading beekeeping books before she ordered her first hive in 2010. Fast forward a year and her garden was laden with veggies and the pair launched Honey I’m Home, selling raw honey from their own and other Western Australian apiaries.

Honey possesses naturally occurring antibacterial and antimicrobial properties that promote healing and can reduce infections. This is measured on what’s called a Total Activity Scale, with high TA rated honey excellent for sore throats, mouth ulcers and even used for topical medicinal use. There is also evidence to show that consuming honey from your local area can help prevent hayfever (and that’s a big win in my ever-watering eyes!)

Honey is influenced by the surrounding flora, meaning not only that honey flavour can vary greatly depending on where it has come from, but the honey produced by a single hive can have a different taste from one harvest to another. “Being an apiarist makes you look up. Literally,” says Blaine. “You notice the flowers, how many there are, and where they are flowering. You look at the clouds and consider how that will affect your beekeeping day, the bees and the honeys they will make.”

Whilst global bee populations are being threatened by colony collapse disorder, thanks to our strict bio-security laws the Western Australian bee population is the healthiest in the world. It’s vital that we protect it, and one way to do so is to support our local apiarists. Imported honey is often not 100% honey, despite being marketed as such. It can include antibiotics, be mixed with corn syrup or other fillers. If you want to know exactly what you’re getting, as well as keeping those food miles to a minimum, nothing beats buying from the source!

“However the bees make the honey is how you will get it,” explains Blaine; the Campbells’ honey is 100% pure, cold extracted honey, without being homogenised, pasteurised, micro-filtered or blended.

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You might also have seen Postcode Honey at your local gourmet supermarket. With the hive’s location apparent from the postcode emblazoned on the front of the jar, it’s clear how few food miles this honey has clocked. Postcode Honey was launched by John Faherty back in 2014 when he quit his day job to set up the business with a goal to represent every postcode in and around Perth. Though the number fluctuates seasonally, 75 different postcodes are currently represented. Head here for a full list of stockists.

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I first discovered Small Batch Honey by chance – I parked my car out the front of their residence and saw someone rounding the corner in full beekeeping get-up. How could I resist grabbing one of the jars for sale on their doorstep? It’s worth a detour past their Mt Lawley abode, but make sure you bring cash to leave in exchange for your jar. Get in touch with Small Batch and request their address through their Facebook page.

For me, a trip to the Swan Valley is not complete without stopping in at The House of Honey. If I am hosting visitors to Perth then all the better – local honey makes an ideal souvenir or gift for them to take home! The House of Honey is an experience: you’re invited to taste a raft of different honey types, check out bees in action at their observation hive, as well as take a seat at the Sticky Spoon Café and refuel with afternoon tea where the honey ice cream comes highly recommended. You can even participate in a mead tasting, to spice up your valley wine tour.

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Beautiful honeycomb is the specialty of Bayswater based business, Pure Naked Honey. As well as the goodness of the magnificent raw honey inside the comb, the actual comb part is highly nutritious itself – not to mention it looks great on a grazing board! Locate Pure Naked Honey products through their stockist map.

If you’re heading out of town, West Coast Honey in Gingin will delight you with free honey tastings and a live bee display. Take time out with a coffee and a slice of their layered honey cake, and if you are lucky enough to drop by when the plant is in action, you can watch the honey extraction process too!

Want more? Try More than Honey for honeycomb sections and raw honey jars, Sticky Goodness for unique products like honey jar wedding favours, and head to Bee the Cure Honey Map to browse your area for more small producers.

Got any local / organic honey recommendations or any burning bee questions? Let us know in the comments!

Article lovingly written by Claire Trolio. She sells nice things at her shop Ruck Rover General Store in Northbridge – check it out 🙂