why is jarrah honey expensive

The reason why Jarrah honey costs more to the consumer than other types of honey can be broken down into a number for factors:  

  • Jarrah honey is a ‘monofloral’ honey meaning it should only have one specific type of pollen inside the honey coming from the Eucalyptus Marginata tree flower.
  • These jarrah trees only flower once every two years or “biannually” making it less available from a supply perspective and harder to keep up with the demand.  The flowering pattern is also variable as it depends on sufficient rainfall during winter and warmth during spring in order for these flowers to be full of nectar for the bees to forage on.
  • Adding to the supply constraints, Jarrah is also a highly sought after hardwood as a building material which means logging these magnificent trees for timber industry is a constant and ongoing threat to the amount of jarrah trees in the environment. 
  • The cost of production is also a lot higher as these trees are only found in the most remote parts of Western Australia making it difficult to access and also contributes to the limited supply.  These apiary sites in national parks & state forests are protected by the government of WA and as a beekeeper, you need to pay a fee to access these sites adding to the cost of production. 
  • These trees are also slow growing taking up to 125 years to reach full maturity and produce an abundant amount of flowers for the bees to forage on.
  • The increase in research and awareness of Jarrah honey being classified as medicinal has led to an increase in demand for it as a topical solution for the skin and also to ingest raw as a table honey.  Obviously, the more people that become aware of the medicinal benefits of jarrah honey drive demand into this product and due to the supply constraints mentioned above the price naturally increases.

References:

Molan P (2006) The evidence supporting the use of honey as a wound dressing. The International Journal of Lower Extremity Wounds. 5(1), 40-54.

Irish J, Blair S, Carter DA. The antibacterial activity of honey derived from Australian flora. PLoS One. 2011;6(3):e18229. Published 2011 Mar 28. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018229

Manning, R J. (2011), Research into Western Australian honeys. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia, Perth. Report.