HIVE OF INDUSTRY

A Hive of

Industry

Images supplied by Settlers Honey

NORTHWEST OF WHANGANUI, straddling the Waitotara River and near the end of New Zealand’s longest no-exit road lies Makowhai Station, home to the Mathews family, 40,000 acres of native bush – and Settler’s Honey, who together with a billion bees produce some of the very best mānuka honey around.

The Settler’s Honey story starts in 2011 when Henry Mathews got his own first beehives after a few years of working in partnership in the industry, but the Makowhai Station story goes back a lot longer than that.

And it’s quite a story. Joseph Haddow started farming the station after travelling up the Waitotara by canoe in 1893. He and wife Sophie raised ten children before relocating to Auckland and selling the farm to Frank Mathews who, together with his two sons Leslie and Harry, set about clearing the scrub, building fences and adding several builds. Leslie also married one of Joseph Haddow’s daughters, Hilda, bringing that family back into the picture and together they had five sons – once of which, Raymond, is the father of current owner Henry.

“Our connection to the land dates back over 125 years,” says Melody Mathews, Logistics Manager and sister of Henry, “so the family feels a great attachment to the Station and are committed to making sure we have a sustainable business - right down to working on a small hydro power scheme to help reduce our carbon footprint and running a mānuka nursery to make sure we can regenerate the land.”

“Since the early days of farming the land, to then going into the honey industry it has certainly had its ups and downs, but we’re really committed and now have a team of 80 employees, over 20,000 beehives – so that’s about one billion bees in peak season - and we produce over 450 tonnes of honey year after year.”

The settlers arrive - Joseph Haddow with his wife Sophie and their family

Henry with the next generation

A teaspoon full (of honey) a day is sworn by many to be the secret to wellbeing

“To this day we remain 100% New Zealand owned and operated and all of our honey is extracted, processed and packaged right here on the Station in our very own state of the art facilities, with a capacity to pack up to 20,000 jars a day.”

“We’ve been working hard to make sure the flavour and consistency of our honey is just right,” Melody says. “We own our own land with mostly mānuka on it and we have managed that closely to make sure we’re getting what we feel is the best tasting honey with really nice flavour profiles. But for example we’ve also spent a lot of time getting our honey to a really nice texture and colour; we don’t use any additives, but the process we use to ‘cream’ the honey ensures a smooth, soft set honey which our customers love.”

20,000 jars is a lot of honey, but that’s a good thing because an everincreasing number of Kiwis – and overseas buyers – are finding more and more ways of enjoying Settler’s finest. Honey is becoming a regular fixture in many people’s medicine cupboards and a teaspoon full a day is sworn by many to be the secret to wellbeing, but there is also a growing foodie angle that has gone beyond the standard kiwi practice of honey on toast for breakfast.

“There are the obvious uses in the kitchen as a sugar replacement for baking,” says Melody, “but it’s also great with soy in stir fry, in drinks, in ice cream, and we’re working on a liquid honey that will be great to drizzle on porridge and as a great guilt-free salad dressing. And the latest one is in Cocktails! We’re collaborating with Frank Bar in Whanganui on some menu items and a couple of cocktails – so the whole company is looking forward to that one!”

So the next time your flying out of Whanganui on an Air Chathams flight, be sure to wave as you pass over the Waitotara River – because down below are the Mathews and a billion bees. And the next time you’re in the market for honey, be sure to check out Settler’s.

Whanganui River

Enjoy the relaxing flow