Our Story

Ruatāhuna - Our Homeland

We’re from Ruatāhuna, known as Te Manawa-o-Te-Ika-a-Māui – the Heart of Māui’s Fish.

The name refers to the exploits of Māui, an ancestor from our ancient mythologies, who pulled up a huge fish from the depths of the ocean that became the North Island of New Zealand, as we know it today. Ruatāhuna is also the place where our tribe originated – from the union of mist and mountains in time immemorial.

Ruatāhuna is located in the heart of remote untouched indigenous forests known as Te Urewera which is the homeland of our tribe Tūhoe. Thus, Ruatāhuna is a place of great significance in our world – the cradle of our tribe, the heart of our homeland.

Te Urewera - Our Forest

These forests hold a great diversity of flora from the lower reaches of river valleys to the summits of the mountain ranges.

Our forests of Te Urewera extend over 200,000 hectares in the heart of the North Island forming the highlands and hinterland of the Bay of Plenty and Northern Hawkes Bay. These forests hold a great diversity of flora from the lower reaches of river valleys to the summits of the mountain ranges. Ferns abound throughout the region with shrubbery of many species and then the majestic podocarps tower at the top of the forest canopy.

Delights for the honey bee abound – swathes of magical mānuka on lower slopes and flats; rewarewa standing as sentinels above the scrub on ridges and slopes; tāwari groves deep in the forest on the mountain ranges, tawhero on mountain ridges; māhoe in the damp green gullies – these are the main honey sources. But there’s also ramarama, kaikōmako, kōkōmuka, parapara, houhi, hohoeka, putaputawētā…..

Thus Te Urewera is a wonderland for our honey bees, giving us
exquisite forest tree honeys and a bounty of bee feed throughout the season.

This is one of the things that fascinates us and drives us to take our honeys to the world.

Haka Group Of Ruatahuna Supported By Manawa Honey NZ

Tūhoe - Our Tribe

We are tangata whenua, the people of this land, known by some as the ‘Children of the Mist’, since we are born of the mist and the mountains in mystical beginnings

We are tangata whenua, the people of this land, known by some as the ‘Children of the Mist’, since we are born of the mist and the mountains in mystical beginnings. Ruatāhuna is a precious place of tribal origins and has been a refuge for our tribe in embattled times of the past, so is known as Te Kohanga o Tūhoe (The Cradle or Refuge of the Tūhoe Tribe). Tūhoe is renowned for resisting the colonisation of New Zealand and for holding fast to our indigenous language and cultural traditions. Find more about Tūhoe and our tribal history.

For centuries, our ancestors have lived in the hills and valleys across this region, and have passed down through generations the precious knowledge of living deep within our forests. These are the traditions and the connection to our forests that we bring to our enterprise of Manawa Honey.

A Great Meeting House at Mataatua, Ruatahuna, Te Urewera, New Zealand, Where Manawa Honey NZ is Based

Tuawhenua - Our Trust

We aim to sustainably manage the land and resources of our region for the benefit of current and future generations.

Manawa Honey NZ was founded by the Tūhoe Tuawhenua Trust which holds 9000 hectares of bush-clad lands about Ruatāhuna. We aim to sustainably manage the land and resources of our region for the benefit of current and future generations. Manawa Honey NZ is part of our programme of developing enterprises that create jobs for our people which brings prosperity for our people in Ruatāhuna. We also run a range of other programmes such as research into our forest ecosystems and traditional knowledge or mātauranga.

Tuawhenua Forest Fund

The forests in our region are suffering under the impacts of introduced pests, even though from a distance our region looks like a healthy native forest. Our long term goal is to support and enhance our forest life to flourish into the future. But, we do not have the funds to support ongoing programmes for this purpose, and government funding is erratic and short-term without a long term focus.

Indeed, one of the reasons we started Manawa Honey was our intention to use this commercial enterprise to support development of our people and enhancement of our forests. With Covid and other factors impacting on Manawa Honey, these benefits have been slow to realise.

So, in 2022, we set up a through an initiative Matariki Ahunga Nui designed in turn to establish a capital fund – the Tuawhenua Forest Fund – with the purpose of enhancement of our forests.

Matariki Ahunga Nui

Feasting and the sharing of food is a central element of the celebration of Matariki, the time of the turning of the year for us as Māori, which is expressed in the proverb ‘Matariki ahunga nui’ (‘the great food piles of Matariki’). Matariki is a time when family and friends come together to remember the past year, celebrate the present and plan for the future – best when done with a feast!

Our initiative Matariki Ahunga Nui involves a process through the seasons each year of producing or collating a feast hamper. Many of the items are grown or prepared in authentic home-style by our staff and friends in Ruatahuna and beyond. Much of the food comes from the forests and orchards of our valley or has been gained through trade for exchange of Manawa Honey. Some have come as koha from food producers or sellers.

Our hampers include a selection of foods that reflect the stars in the Matariki constellation – from the ocean (Waitā), from fresh water (Waitī), from in the ground (Tipuānuku), and from the forest (Tipuārangi). Participants in the initiative receive hampers, whilst they give a koha (donation) for the Tuawhenua Forest Fund.

In this way, we achieve a number of our objectives in the design of Matariki Ahunga Nui:

Reviving a range of traditions including koha and reciprocity, celebrating Matariki and trading with other iwi or producers.
Sharing hampers of selected foods largely sourced from Ruatahuna for celebrating Matariki.
Developing skills of growing, preparing and preserving a range of foods
And ultimately, for restoring and enhancing Tuawhenua Forests.

In late May of each year, we take orders for these wonderful feast hampers. Order yours here: Matariki Ahunga Nui Hampers. Available only in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Enhancing Tuawhenua Forests

Our Matariki Ahunga Nui initiative has been the key to establishing the Tuawhenua Forest Fund. As of April 2024, the fund has reached over $80,000. We know it’s small beginnings, but we decided back in 2022 we have to start somewhere. The fund will use all investment earnings to grow the fund for some years yet before we move to use only investment earnings for the purposes of enhancing the Tuawhenua forests.

All koha/proceeds for this fund go to the fund – there are no deductions for administration as all of these costs are covered by Manawa Honey and the Tuawhenua Trust.

Support our kaupapa for the Tuawhenua forests here: Donations/Koha for Tuawhenua Forest Fund

Nanao Miere – Our Tradition

Wild Honey Gathering In Forest Of Te Urewera By Ancestors Of The Ruatahuna People That Set Up Manawa Honey NZ

Our interest in honey production flows from our tradition in Ruatāhuna of wild honey-gathering, which we call te nanao miere. Our forests have always been places of bounty, for birds, berries and other foods. Honey became a revered food for our people when the honey bee was introduced to New Zealand in the 1830s. From that time our ancestors gathered wild honey from hives high up in our forest trees, as depicted in this photo to the left.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=vzwY565psLc&feature=emb_logo

One of our trustees, Korotau Tamiana, a well-known forest expert of the Tūhoe tribe, explains in the video how this process took place. We continue to be inspired by the ingenuity of our ancestors as forest honey-gatherers of this land!

Miere – Our Business

In 2000, wild bee hives throughout region were destroyed by the varroa mite that reached New Zealand in that year. We were no longer able to continue with wild

forest honey gathering and took up hobby beekeeping instead. By 2010 we had started to develop a business for honey production.

We turned to honey for business development for some simple reasons:

Traditionally, honey was a revered food – a taonga – and we wanted to get honey back into every home in Ruatāhuna.
Beekeeping keeps us in touch with our forest which is the mauri or life source for our people and our culture.
The honey business creates meaningful jobs and careers of different types for our people – from beekeeping to brand management.
In turn, jobs bring prosperity for our whānau and hapū.
Bees are good for our environment – pollinating our farm pastures, our orchards and gardens, and our forest ecosystems.

Browse the newsletters of the Tūhoe Tuawhenua Trust for more on the development of Manawa Honey NZ.

If you’re loving Honeys of Te Urewera

Shop Now

manuka honey mg500 raw 500g manawa honey nz angled — Raw Mānuka Honey MGO 500+ in 500g
NZD $166.99

Raw means not filtered and not heat-treated. Keeping all the goodness.

Mānuka means world-famous properties. Nature’s gift.

Premium honey. Limited edition.

Also available in 250g and in MGO 400+ grade.

manuka honey mg500 raw 500g manawa honey nz — Raw Mānuka Honey MGO 500+ in 500g
NZD $166.99

Raw means not filtered and not heat-treated. Keeping all the goodness.

Mānuka means world-famous properties. Nature’s gift.

Premium honey. Limited edition.

Also available in 250g and in MGO 400+ grade.

manuka honey mg100 creamed 500g manawa honey nz angled — Mānuka MG100+ Honey 500g
NZD $42.90 — or subscribe to save 15%

Gold medals at London Honey Awards and the NZ Outstanding Food Producers.

Distinctive medicinal taste and world-famed properties that deliver benefits for healing and your general health.

Also available in 250g and 110g.

london honey awards gold medal quality honey manawa honey nz — Mānuka MG100+ Honey 500g
NZD $42.90 — or subscribe to save 15%

Gold medals at London Honey Awards and the NZ Outstanding Food Producers.

Distinctive medicinal taste and world-famed properties that deliver benefits for healing and your general health.

Also available in 250g and 110g.

Rewarewa Honey 500g Creamed Honeysuckle Honey By Manawa Honey NZ — Rewarewa Honey 500g
NZD $19.99 — or subscribe to save 15%

**The Best Tasting Honey in the World!**

Grand First Prize Winner, World’s Best Tasting Honey (10^th Black Jar International Honey Tasting Contest).

Gold Medal, London Honey Awards 2022.

Also available in 250g and 110g.

black jar international honey tasting contest manawa honey nz — Rewarewa Honey 500g
NZD $19.99 — or subscribe to save 15%

**The Best Tasting Honey in the World!**

Grand First Prize Winner, World’s Best Tasting Honey (10^th Black Jar International Honey Tasting Contest).

Gold Medal, London Honey Awards 2022.

Also available in 250g and 110g.

tawari honey creamed 500g manawa honey nz angled — Tāwari Honey 500g
NZD $19.99 — or subscribe to save 15%

Top 10 and Category Winner in the World’s Best Tasting Honey Contest, USA, 2025

Gold Medals at London Honey Awards and NZ Outstanding Food Producers Awards

A rare honey with exquisite taste and texture.

Also available in 250g and 110g jars.

wild forest honey creamed pua a tane 500g manawa honey nz angled — Pua-ā-Tāne Wild Forest Honey 500g
NZD $13.99 — or subscribe to save 15%

Finalist World’s Best Tasting Honey (10th Black Jar International Honey Contest)

Bronze Medal in NZ Outstanding Food Producers Awards

Also available raw in 3kg and 6kg pails.

london honey awards silver medal quality honey manawa honey nz — Pua-ā-Tāne Wild Forest Honey 500g
NZD $13.99 — or subscribe to save 15%

Finalist World’s Best Tasting Honey (10th Black Jar International Honey Contest)

Bronze Medal in NZ Outstanding Food Producers Awards

Also available raw in 3kg and 6kg pails.

Manawa – Our Brand

Our strapline ‘Honey from the Heart’ refers not just to our honeys from Te Urewera but also to our approach to our business.

Manawa means ‘heart’ and our brand name and logo springs from Te Manawa o te Ika a Maui – our homeland Ruatāhuna, deep in Te Urewera forest. Our strapline ‘Honey from the Heart’ refers not just to our honeys from Te Urewera but also to our approach to our business – we love honey, we produce it with care and it means a lot to us here in Ruatāhuna. That is, we’re proud to present a slice of our heaven through honeys to the world!

Our main brand colour is deep purple, inspired by our first honey presented under Brand Manawa that came from the Māhoe tree.

Māhoe is a very special tree that appears in groves in our forests throughout Te Urewera. Our ancestors used the māhoe for medicinal purposes. The bark was stripped and prepared as a pack on burns; the leaves would be used for bathing areas affected by rheumatism, and for application to wounds and skin diseases. Click here for more about traditional medicinal uses of Māhoe.

Māhoe was also used for making fire by rubbing a slab of soft Māhoe with a pointed stick of harder wood such as kaikomako. The wood is slow burning and smouldering sticks of it were carried in stone container to transport ‘fire’. Click here for more information on the Māhoe for making fire before the advent of lighters and matches.

Other berries of our forests also have purple berries but the māhoe berry is a stand-out. It has such an intense purple colour that it was used as the colourant for traditional ta moko (tattoo) seen on the chin of the woman depicted here. In this process, the ashes of the vegetable caterpillar were mixed with the juice of the māhoe fruit and applied to incisions in the skin, in a design that holds much meaning for the person that bears the ta moko.

Last but not least, the māhoe berry is an important source of food for our revered kereru (forest pigeon). The kereru gain body weight through the summer feasting on the māhoe berry in preparation for nesting later in the year. The kereru holds special significance for us as a forest people. It was traditionally prepared for special occasions, for special guests and for women – symbolising fertility and life itself in linking us as a people to our forests.

So through the māhoe tree, we bring together many strands – our forest ecosystems, our traditional heritage and the wonder of life itself – reflected in the deep purple colour as our inspired choice for our brand colour.

Tikanga - Our Values

We are driven in what we do by a number of core values:

Earth With Heart Graphic For Manawa Honey NZ Values

Whenua

Sustainable Land Use

Beekeeping is a sustainable use of our bush-clad mountainous region that can benefit current and future generations without detrimental impact on our ecosystems. People and the land in harmony, forever.

Tangata Whenua

Development for our People of the Land

Manaaki

Sustainable Beekeeping

In a beekeeping world where artificial feeding of sugar and pollen substitutes have become a norm for much of the year, we focus more on sustainable beekeeping practices based on natural forest sources of nectar and pollen.

Mauri

Our Forest Quintessence

We are committed to looking after our indigenous ecosystems in Te Urewera, of which honey bees have been a part for nearly 200 hundred years. Our beekeeping operation maintains a pollination service in our forest for many species especially because feral honey beehives were wiped out by the dreaded varroa mite since it reached New Zealand in 2000.

Manawa

Honey from the Heart

We produce our honeys with care as if every drop was for our own table. We manage our production from our forests to the jar so that we can control the quality of our honeys. Thus we are honoured to bring Manawa to honey–lovers across the world.

Tangata - Our Talent

We are committed to involving and developing our own people of Ruatāhuna so that they can flourish in careers in Manawa Honey. We are working for the long-term to build an industry that utilises our own resources and the talents of our people for many generations to come. From the start, we have trained our own people in beekeeping, business support and marketing to fill the jobs that we have created through this business – more than 10 roles by 2020. And, we are committed to continue, where we can, to train and develop more of our people to fill additional jobs we intend to create in coming years.

Manawa Honey NZ Chief Beekeeper, Who Comes From Tuhoe from Te Urewera Tuhoe

Hekenoa (Taawi) Te Kurapa – Chief Beekeeper & Trustee

Taawi is our go-to expert on beekeeping these days and he brings on and trains our new apprentices, even taking kids at the local school for introductory lessons. Taawi is one of the trustees for the Tuawhenua Trust (founder of Manawa Honey). So, in this role, when he’s not busy beekeeping, he’s teaching our young people again in our development programme Te Whare o Rehua – in handling and training some of our wild horses!

Taawi is a dedicated leader for Manawa Honey and is a role model for our staff and all our young people. Taawi is passionate about his work, so passionate he often refuses to go on holiday! To get him to take a break we have to organise a holiday for him – getaway of choice is tahr hunting in the Southern Alps. Not just a beekeeper, but an expert hunter too.

In 2021, as our Chief Beekeeper, Taawi was named as the winner for the 10th Black Jar International Honey Tasting Contest for Rewarewa Honey. Taawi doesn’t really revel in the limelight, ‘cos he’s the kind of chief that leads from behind, but we know our young people need leaders to look up to, so we’re really proud of his achievement on the global stage.

Favourite Honey: The CEO – nah – joke! It’s Mānuka…

Manuka Honey beekeeper in truck of Manawa Honey NZ of Ruatahuna

Brandyn Koroa – Beekeeper

Brandyn grew up in Auckland but in those years always came back to Ruatahuna for holidays to his whānau and hapū at Tātāhoata (Ngāi Te Riu). Brandyn also has Cook Island, Irish, and Scottish descent so brings all of this into the mix for Manawa Honey!

Brandyn favours hobbies creating and making things with his hands as he has quite a creative streak. He enjoys building and has crafted his own home up on the hill with his whānau at Araiwhenua, above Tātāhoata. Brandyn also enjoys arm wrestling competitively, so you know he can be a force to reckon with.

Brandyn is an electrician by trade but has a real talent to turn his hand to almost anything trade related. He joined Manawa Honey to develop as a beekeeper so that he could come back to live in Ruatāhuna alongside his kuia Hinerangi Goodman in her elderly years.

Favorite honey: As an aspiring bushman, yep it’s Pua-ā-Tāne.

beekeeper toby staff member manawa honey nz

Toby Moon – Beekeeper

Toby’s born and bred here, and lives at Tatahoata, one of our many marae here in Ruatahuna. He’s been a staunch beekeeper with us for several years – learning from scratch, but now he sure knows his game.

Toby can lift honey supers with little effort all day long. The rest of us get exhausted long beforehand and we’re left wondering just how does he manage to do that. He’s got real skill too after all those years, so he’s in tune with the bees.

Toby’s an avid hunter, so we have to get our priorities right when the red stags here in our forests start to roar. We love Manawa Honey, but well, the roar is something else!

Here in this photo, Toby is showing our tour visitors all about bees and hives as a new part of his job. Love the expression in this one!

Favourite Honey: Mānuka – to pump those muscles and keep him in the best of health.

staff member tamahou te pou manawa honey nz

Tamahou Te Pou – Beekeeper

Hailing from Tamakaimona hapu, Tamahou is also born and bred in Ruatāhuna. Tamahou has been with us for a few years now and is becoming one of our established beekeepers.

Tamahou keeps the beekeeping team entertained with some incredibly funny stories about his hunting or well, other topics of interest to beekeepers! You’d just have to say he’s a real character.

Tamahou’s a real asset when it comes to looking after visitors to Manawa Honey. He’ll take them through the hives on an apiary tour, and holds their interest by explaining the keeping of bees in some detail.

Tamahou is a keen hunter like others in the beekeeping team and enjoys taking his children to the bush, teaching them all he knows. It’s a joy to see him passing on knowledge from the elders in his family down to his children.

Favourite Honey: It’s Rewarewa – ‘cos Tamahou knows what’s the very best in taste when it comes to honey!

Manawa Honey NZ Beekeeper With Stack Of Beehives Behind On A Truck In Front of Stack of Beehives

Craig Pearson – Beekeeper

Craig lives atop a mountain at Ngaputahi, near Ruatahuna, home of Ngati Tawhaki, where, with partner Mel, they built their own home, way off-grid. He’s been developing as a beekeeper for a few years now and is fascinated by bees and how to make them bring in that honey.

He has done many other things in his life of work, and he can easily turn his hand to extraction in the shed, and we know he’s handy with a hammer too. Craig loves getting out there with the bee-boys, and learning more about the forest in which he lives. He gets plenty of advice on hunting and well – all the things that bee-boys talk about when they’re on the job!

Favourite Honey: Has to be Tāwari – the honey of mountains where he lives.

Manawa Honey NZ Production Manager Jim Tahi Against The Mountains of Te Urewera, New Zealand

Jim Tahi – Production Manager

Local to the bone, of Te Urewera hapū, Jim has been with us for a few years now, starting out just helping us with IT in the office. He then went on to develop in the a role that covered honey extraction, logistics, inventory and food safety compliance. He’s now leading our honey production and packing function in our new shed Te Whataroa-ā-Manāia. so he’s come a long way from those days!

We still call Jim back to the office to fix IT issues from time to time, but the next stage for him is to become the next honey-meister – a master in the art of producing honey. Actually, that’s Jim – he’s had many different jobs and with his resourcefulness, he can turn his hand to most things.

Now that’s when we can get him away from his drone and other techno-toys, which is one of his favourite past-times. Jim’s got three kids that love the technology of the modern world too and mokopuna coming through, all together in their home at Mātaatua.

Jim’s the Chair for Mātaatua Marae, which is right next to where Manawa Honey NZ is based, so there’s times when we have let him go do his duty in this calling. We’re hoping all this learning in Manawa Honey will rub off in what he gets to do for his hapū of Te Urewera!

Favourite Honey: Pua-ā-Tāne – bounty of Tāne’s Forest for a man like Jim, salt-of-the-earth.

Two Jars Of Honey By Manawa Honey NZ Held Out By Manawa Honey NZ Staff Member With Mountains And Trees In Background

Karioi Ki Tahuaroa White – Marketing Executive

Karioi is named after her mountains from which she descends – Karioi in Raglan and Tahuaroa of her hapū Ngāti Tāwhaki here in Ruatāhuna. Karioi started straight from school doing our photocopying and odd jobs in the office. She then developed into an all-rounder covering a lot for Manawa Honey NZ – packing orders, logistics, procurement, label design – and for the Tuawhenua Trust, managing our youth academy Te Whare o Rehua. Now that’s a talented and adaptable staff member!

Karioi’s development in our business has gone from strength to strength. She has now added our photography, digital marketing and export support for Manawa Honey and high-level aspects of our financial management. Karioi is keen to learn more about business so we will open up more opportunities in the future for her to round out her knowledge of business operation and management.

We just love developing our young people in this way, preparing them for what they will do for themselves, their whanau and their hapu in the future.

Karioi loves her animals, and is a great young horse-woman. She was once a participant in our programme Te Whare o Rehua on starting horse from the wilds of our region, and she went straight home after the programme to apply it all to her young horse. Love it!

Favourite Honey: Gotta be Tāwari with a mountain name like that

markets and sales donna hatcher christchurch manawa honey nz

Donna Hatcher – Marketing & Sales

Donna is part of the Rua whanau from Waimana and Maungapōhatu, and she works for us from where she lives in Christchurch. Being a satellite worker is not easy for any team member but Donna is totally passionate about what we do and why.

She tells us that “doing the mahi for Manawa Honey is more than just a job. It’s become a journey of connecting with so many amazing individuals in business and personally.”

Donna enjoys the challenge of researching and finding new stockists. She’s clear on the task in hand: “The retail market for Honey has changed dramatically with the lack of tourists we so need to educate NZ’s consumers the benefits of buying our honey.”

Here in this photo, Donna is in her element, organizing a promotion of our honey and skincare in-store. So proud to see you out there promoting our honey Donna – awesome!

Favourite Honey: Pua-ā-Tāne Wild Forest ‘cos it keeps her connected to the rhythms of our forest here in Te Urewera.

staff member tania wairama manawa honey nz

Tania Wairama – Executive Promotions & Support

Tania hails originally from Titahi Bay in Wellington and has Hungarian whakapapa so we love the special dishes from that tradition that she makes for our lunches at the office! Tania came to Ruatāhuna when her hubby Saul Wairama brought her home to live some years ago. Tania focuses on the promotional side of Manawa Honey including beasts like Amazon, which her words is “a challenge that is very much a challenge!”

Tania has worked in the private and public sector in Wellington in her years there, but on reflection she “enjoys what she does here in amongst the Tuhoe people the most”. She loves arts and crafts, and is currently learning raranga – flax weaving, which she finds is “therapeutic, fun and a nice way to be social”. Love it!

Favourite Honey: “Tāwari for sure – goes perfectly with lemon in a hot drink and on toast with butter!”

finances staff member carol manawa honey nz

Carol Outen – Financial Support

Introducing Carol Outen, our accountant for Manawa Honey NZ.

Carol is originally from Gisborne. She has a son Carl & daughter Tania, two grandkids Jack & Josh.

Carol has worked for many years doing office manager/financials, as well as being involved in breeding Appaloosa horses for 30 years, attending Western Horse shows with her kids, all over NZ.

Carol loves to travel and has been to India, Japan, Europe and many more places overseas. She’s Inherited her mother’s love of fabric and sewing – does a lot of quilting, mainly for charity these days. Keeps her busy!

Favourite Honey: Tāwari although she has a distant memory of Māhoe – super yum in her opinion.

Manawa Honey NZ CEO In Front Of Carvings Of Meeting House

Brenda Tahi – CEO & Trustee

Brenda’s Ngāti Porou, but she’s a local – long-lived in Ruatāhuna – and she’s been running Manawa Honey since we set up in 2013. She loves hunting and horses but is too busy with Manawa to do any of this currently so she reckons it’s time for a change!

Brenda’s had careers in other times and places – in tourism many years ago, and in public service too so that’s different! For a while now she’s been focused on grassroots development in Ruatāhuna, to develop our people and land. Of course, that’s what Manawa Honey is all about!

“So much for being semi-retired!” she says. But secretly we know she just loves working with all of us at Manawa Honey.

Favourite honey: It certainly used to be Tāwari – that stunning mountain honey, but heck it’s hard to go past Kānuka now that we have it! Actually Brenda is a honey fiend and loves Rewarewa too and then drinks Raw Forest Honey and Lime Infusion every day instead of tea or coffee.

rangi matamua astronomy bee cluster trustee manawa honey nz

Rangi Mātāmua – Trustee

Rangi is a trustee for the Tuawhenua Trust, founder of Manawa Honey NZ. He does his best to live as much as he can here at Mātaatua Marae, where we are based but he’s in high demand nationally and even overseas as he’s an expert in Maori astronomy and the cosmos. Love it!

He’s been a professor at Waikato University but left all that to come home and contribute to the development of our land and our people. Same kaupapa as Manawa Honey.

Rangi was a key advisor to the government for establishing the national holiday for Matariki – the celebration of the rising of the Pleiades constellation, signalling the turning of the year for Māori. He was recognised for this contribution to the evolving identity of our country and our culture in Aotearoa, when he was made New Zealander of the Year in 2023

No, despite the photo, Rangi’s not a beekeeper, but he gets out there to give a hand from time to time. He’s fascinated by how the sun, the stars and the moon all influence the rhythm of life on earth and what that means for bees too.

Rangi also does a bit of hunting when he’s home and even does a possum line or two, to get back into the bush again.

Favourite Honey: Hmm, reckon that would be Rewarewa – full flavour only.

Puke Timoti – Trustee

Puke is now a trustee for the Tuawhenua Trust, but he started with us years ago as a young researcher in our research programmes on mātauranga (traditional knowledge) relating to our forest. He learnt so much in this period that set the foundation for his career in biodiversity research and policy.

Puke’s from Ngāi Te Riu hapu of Tātāhoata Marae in Ruatāhuna and was raised by his grandparents here at home. So he learnt from some of the best about life in the bush, and yes he’s a keen hunter alongside his deep interest in mātauranga and research.

Puke’s dedicated to bringing Maori perspectives into policy and practice in environmental management and conservation. He’s found a good place to do this in his work with Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, and also through his appointment to the NZ Conservation Authority in 2021. He is becoming well published as a researcher and is a keen advocate for ensuring that mātauranga Māori is embedded in matters of biodiversity management.

So he’s walking in different worlds although none of these relate directly to Manawa Honey! But no worries, ‘cos Puke is one of our biggest customers and really enjoys our honey when he has enough time in his busy schedule to eat it lol.

Favourite Honey: Definitely Tāwari – we know ‘cos he gets this by the 30kg bucket!

trustie tuhoe tuawhenua trust richard tumarae manawa honey nz

Richard Tumarae – Chair

Ko wai Ahau: Richard Peipi Peura Tumarae

Trustee: Mo Te Tuawhenua Trust

He mokopuna tuarua ahau na Rua Kenana raua ko Pinepine Te Rika

Whanau: He tangata atawhai, manaaki ahau I taku hoa rangatira ite wa e toito ana aia, me wa maua tamariki, mokopuna tuarua hoki

Pukenga: He mahi au I roto ite pono ki te rapu huarahi hai painga mo na whanau a nga whakatipuranga.

Uru pu ki roto I toku whatumanawa te aroha ki te Whenua Tapu o wo tatau Tipuna o Maungapohatu me te Urewera hoki.

E ai ki na korero a na koroua; “Ki te kore te Whenua, kaare he Turangawaewae mo tatau”

He roa ahau e manaaki, e tiaki ana I tera marae o tatau Maungapohatu, na nga koroua me na pakeke ahau I poipoi haere mai I roto I nga ahuatanga I nga tikanga e pa ana ki Maungapohatu, atu ki etehe o na marae o Ruatahuna, me roto ano hoki ia Te Waimana Kaaku.

He maha nga ahuatanga kai roto au engari hai whakarapopoto ko nga korero ka kapohia e au anei;

‘Tama noho, Tama Tu, Tama Ora Tama Mate’

Kia mau tatau ki to tatau Manamotuhake

Ma te ringa raupa ka ora te whanau, te hapu me te Iwi hoki.

Richard Tumarae is the Chair of our Trustees. He’s defs a man for his whanau and his marae of Maungapohatu, being a direct descendant of Rua Kenana. He’s dedicated to improving the lot of his people and to holding the land, and has put many years into looking after the marae of Maungapōhatu.

There’s a saying that epitomises Richard “Tama noho, tama tū, tama ora, tama mate’ meaning like him, one needs to be active and engaged or else you will stagnate or perish. he also lives by another saying “Mā te ringa raupā ka ora te whānau, te hapū me te iwi – it’s by hard work that families, clans and the tribe will flourish”.

Favourite honey: Maunga Honey of course, ‘cos it comes from his home and inspiration, Maungapōhatu.

Try our forest honeys . . .

from our vast untouched forests in Te Urewera – homeland of our tribe Tūhoe.

SHOP NOW