Every year, I always bring home a few treasures from the little monthly market on beautiful North Stradbroke Island ("Straddie") where we go for holidays every year. There's always a few bars of handmade soap, a bargain from the secondhand stall, something knitted or woven or sewn by a local crafter and we never leave without some island honey.
The honey stall is my favourite among all the little market stalls. I love to chat with the beekeeper (whom I've affectionately nicknamed "The Bee Man") about all things bees and I never fail to learn something new about these amazing little insects and their honeys. This year, I brought home a rather special honey too.
Jelly Bush Honey from North Stradbroke Island.
Jelly Bush Honey is thick, oozy honey. It comes from a tree in the Leptospermum family as does New Zealand's medicinal Manuka Honey. The Jelly Bush Honey I bought has an activity rating of 20+. This rating reflects the antibacterial level determined by tests in a laboratory. As I understand it, the higher the total activity rating, the higher the antibacterial level in the honey. On the side of my little pot of this special honey, it says it can be used as an ointment for wounds and ulcers and that it can be taken to soothe sore throats too.
As we often soothe our sore throats with a teaspoon of honey or a warming honey and lemon drink, I thought bringing home a little pot of this Jelly Bush Honey may come in handy during the colder months. I used it recently, when I developed a cold, and I found that it did soothe my sore, scratchy throat. And it tasted lovely too!
Straddie's bees forage in a beautiful place and they make beautiful honeys. When we return this Summer, they'll be busy collecting pollen from the Leptospermum's flowers and turning that in to this amazing Jelly Bush Honey. I will bring some home with me again, across the bay.
Meg
As we often soothe our sore throats with a teaspoon of honey or a warming honey and lemon drink, I thought bringing home a little pot of this Jelly Bush Honey may come in handy during the colder months. I used it recently, when I developed a cold, and I found that it did soothe my sore, scratchy throat. And it tasted lovely too!
Jelly Bush Blossom (Leptospermum polygalifolium)
Photo credit ~ John Tann via flickr.com
Straddie's bees forage in a beautiful place and they make beautiful honeys. When we return this Summer, they'll be busy collecting pollen from the Leptospermum's flowers and turning that in to this amazing Jelly Bush Honey. I will bring some home with me again, across the bay.
Meg
