Waitakaruru hot spring Manuka Honey !

By Wetex Kang

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Food,



NZ $14,913 pledged


68 people pledged


Closed


NZ $14,720 minimum target


100 100% Complete

This campaign was successful and closed on 09/01/2020 at 8:00 PM.

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About

Waitakaruru Hot Spring Manuka Honey !

Project 2019-09-23 05:16:13 +1200

 

   
 
Image

Have we discovered Hot Springs Honey?

Image

Beekeeping is often not just a profession or a hobby, it becomes a way of life. Something about the connectedness and cooperation of bees working together in a hive seems to rub off on their keepers. When a novice beekeeper needs help, a veteran beekeeper will become their mentor. When a beekeeper needs someone to tend to their hives, they turn to other in their beekeeping communities. So in April 2019, when we received a call for help from David, we answered. David is a beekeeper based in Tokaanu near Lake Taupo. He had not been well for some time and was unable to manage his hives.

 

A few days later, our teams worked around the clock over two days at Tokaanu to rescue 96 beehives (sadly we lost another 54) and transported them back to Ruatoki in the Bay of Plenty to our “bee hospital”.

During this time, David showed us around his family’s homestead, beside the Tokaanu Hot Pools. We noticed beehives being kept warm by the hot springs and volcanic activity around the bush area of the homestead. David had even built a hot tub with a trough, fed by hot water pumped from the surrounding hot springs, which he believed helped him with his health.

I'm an image

It was then that our Managing Director, Wetex had a lightbulb moment, his curiosity piqued. What if the bees can transfer the health benefits of the hot springs, via the manuka plants to the manuka honey harvested? What if the volcanic activities can stimulate the manuka trees to produce high activity manuka honey? What if the warmth provided by the volcanic activities can stimulate the bees’ health?

This is what we are aiming to find out through this process.

 Image

 
Image

Why crowdfunding (again)?

We would love to find answers to these questions. However, we have no more beehives to move to this site as the 600 beehives that Waitakaruru Honey owns will be placed in Tahaaroa and Taranaki to collect manuka honey in November and December.

 

We have been speaking to our new shareholders at Waitakaruru Honey Limited as well as our wider crowd who missed out on our equity offer and have received feedback that they would welcome the option to increase their rewards.

 
Image

60 NEW BEEHIVES !!

We need 16 to 60 production beehives (@$800+GST per beehive) to fully utilise this site. So we are turning to you, our crowd, to help us do this.

How will the money be used?

The money from this crowdfunding campaign will be used to purchase production beehives to be placed at this site at $800+GST each. We will need a minimum of 16 beehives and a maximum of 60.

We will cover the cost of beekeeper to manage the hives and the cost of any testing, packaging and distribution of any honey produced at this site.

 

Meet our team

Image
 

Wetex Kang, Managing Director

 

Wetex graduated from the University of Otago in 1994 with a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons), with his Honours research on Pharmacokinetics published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

After his internship, he purchased a pharmacy in Auckland, New Zealand and embarked on a career in the health and wellness industry.

 

Trading under the company name, New Zealand Low Carb Ltd (NZLC), they started manufacturing its own range of nutritional supplements sold through its retail shop and online website. Between 1996 and 2014, Wetex consulted on the health and wellness of over 80,000 individuals within New Zealand (many of them professional athletes).

 

In 2004, he published his book on low carbohydrate/sugar nutrition. NZLC currently sells its products in Australia, Singapore and New Zealand. Wetex fell into beekeeping by accident and his passion for bees has seen him excel within the industry.

 

Wetex is also a queen bee breeder and has recently acquired the training to artificially inseminate queen bees. Wetex is also the managing director of NZ Honey innovations, a minority shareholder and partner organisation of Waitakaruru Honey Ltd

I'm an image

Tony Porter, Beekeeping Team Leader

 

Tony is the team leader of the WHL team. Tony joined the program back in early 2018 when he was living in Rawene, in the Hokianga Region. The program helped Tony obtain his restricted drivers license and a bank account. Tony has 3 children and in early 2019, Tony moved to Auckland to lead the Waitakaruru team.

 

 

I'm an image

Sam Pickering, Beekeeper

 

Sam is our other permanent beekeeper at Waitakaruru. Sam grew up in the Hokianga area (Whirinaki) where he was trained as a beekeeper. Sam started his beekeeping apprenticeship 3 seasons ago in late 2017. Sam has experience in operating 400- 500 beehives in his previous beekeeping supervisory job. Sam is a young father with a young son.

Image
 
   

Comments

Updates 2

Thank you for pledging to our Waitakaruru hot spring Manuka Honey Campaign

16/01/2020 at 9:27 AM

Our Waitakaruru hot spring Manuka Honey campaign has finished.  We'd like to thank all of you who pledged to help us get hives to Tokaanu. 

Over the next few days, we'll be emailing you individually to let you know about the reward you have selected and how to collect it or, in the case of honey, when you can expect delivery.

Beehives at Tokaanu, ready to collect honey

22/11/2019 at 11:35 AM

The manuka trees are flowering at Tokaanu. David rung and said if we do not bring our beehives, we are going to miss the manuka flow. So our BOP team delivered 44 beehives (16 to come next week) to the hot spring site and Dave put the hangi in the ground at 4am this morning.

 

 

 

    Pledgers 68

    Linda Halverston
    14/11/2019 at 6:23pm
    Michelle Sternberg
    14/11/2019 at 9:31am
    Anonymous pledger
    14/11/2019 at 12:10am
    Marama Rose Mitchell
    13/11/2019 at 7:49pm
    Joanne mellis
    12/11/2019 at 11:49pm
    Val Barmes
    12/11/2019 at 5:44pm

    "Woohoo . Let’s get this underway too. "

    Viona Gunawan
    12/11/2019 at 3:01pm
    Trish Vickers
    12/11/2019 at 8:38am
    Anonymous pledger
    12/11/2019 at 7:03am
    Anonymous pledger
    12/11/2019 at 7:02am
    Anonymous pledger
    12/11/2019 at 6:04am
    Mel Dennison
    11/11/2019 at 10:03pm

    "Happy to support another amazing venture with you guys!"

    Craig Nicol
    11/11/2019 at 8:51pm
    Christopher Wilson
    11/11/2019 at 8:49pm
    Warren Jordaan
    11/11/2019 at 7:15pm
    Vivian Gandar
    11/11/2019 at 6:47pm
    Kelly Whittle
    11/11/2019 at 5:50pm

    "Happy to help get more homes for the bees!! 🥰"

    Joyce Tse
    11/11/2019 at 5:40pm
    Sarah
    11/11/2019 at 5:07pm
    Jo Dey
    11/11/2019 at 5:05pm
    Andre
    11/11/2019 at 4:59pm
    Andre
    11/11/2019 at 4:57pm
    Minty Hunter
    11/11/2019 at 4:46pm
    Andrew Rowland
    11/11/2019 at 4:35pm

    "Love helping people out and the bee’s. Good luck. "

    Anthony Bagley
    11/11/2019 at 4:35pm
    Jono Kennedy
    11/11/2019 at 4:24pm
    Anonymous pledger
    11/11/2019 at 4:13pm
    Catherine
    11/11/2019 at 3:29pm
    Martin Morris
    11/11/2019 at 3:27pm
    Martin Morris
    11/11/2019 at 3:26pm

    Followers 6

    Followers of Waitakaruru hot spring Manuka Honey !

    Waitakaruru Hot Spring Manuka Honey !

    Project 2019-09-23 05:16:13 +1200

     

       
     
    Image

    Have we discovered Hot Springs Honey?

    Image

    Beekeeping is often not just a profession or a hobby, it becomes a way of life. Something about the connectedness and cooperation of bees working together in a hive seems to rub off on their keepers. When a novice beekeeper needs help, a veteran beekeeper will become their mentor. When a beekeeper needs someone to tend to their hives, they turn to other in their beekeeping communities. So in April 2019, when we received a call for help from David, we answered. David is a beekeeper based in Tokaanu near Lake Taupo. He had not been well for some time and was unable to manage his hives.

     

    A few days later, our teams worked around the clock over two days at Tokaanu to rescue 96 beehives (sadly we lost another 54) and transported them back to Ruatoki in the Bay of Plenty to our “bee hospital”.

    During this time, David showed us around his family’s homestead, beside the Tokaanu Hot Pools. We noticed beehives being kept warm by the hot springs and volcanic activity around the bush area of the homestead. David had even built a hot tub with a trough, fed by hot water pumped from the surrounding hot springs, which he believed helped him with his health.

    I'm an image

    It was then that our Managing Director, Wetex had a lightbulb moment, his curiosity piqued. What if the bees can transfer the health benefits of the hot springs, via the manuka plants to the manuka honey harvested? What if the volcanic activities can stimulate the manuka trees to produce high activity manuka honey? What if the warmth provided by the volcanic activities can stimulate the bees’ health?

    This is what we are aiming to find out through this process.

     Image

     
    Image

    Why crowdfunding (again)?

    We would love to find answers to these questions. However, we have no more beehives to move to this site as the 600 beehives that Waitakaruru Honey owns will be placed in Tahaaroa and Taranaki to collect manuka honey in November and December.

     

    We have been speaking to our new shareholders at Waitakaruru Honey Limited as well as our wider crowd who missed out on our equity offer and have received feedback that they would welcome the option to increase their rewards.

     
    Image

    60 NEW BEEHIVES !!

    We need 16 to 60 production beehives (@$800+GST per beehive) to fully utilise this site. So we are turning to you, our crowd, to help us do this.

    How will the money be used?

    The money from this crowdfunding campaign will be used to purchase production beehives to be placed at this site at $800+GST each. We will need a minimum of 16 beehives and a maximum of 60.

    We will cover the cost of beekeeper to manage the hives and the cost of any testing, packaging and distribution of any honey produced at this site.

     

    Meet our team

    Image
     

    Wetex Kang, Managing Director

     

    Wetex graduated from the University of Otago in 1994 with a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons), with his Honours research on Pharmacokinetics published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

    After his internship, he purchased a pharmacy in Auckland, New Zealand and embarked on a career in the health and wellness industry.

     

    Trading under the company name, New Zealand Low Carb Ltd (NZLC), they started manufacturing its own range of nutritional supplements sold through its retail shop and online website. Between 1996 and 2014, Wetex consulted on the health and wellness of over 80,000 individuals within New Zealand (many of them professional athletes).

     

    In 2004, he published his book on low carbohydrate/sugar nutrition. NZLC currently sells its products in Australia, Singapore and New Zealand. Wetex fell into beekeeping by accident and his passion for bees has seen him excel within the industry.

     

    Wetex is also a queen bee breeder and has recently acquired the training to artificially inseminate queen bees. Wetex is also the managing director of NZ Honey innovations, a minority shareholder and partner organisation of Waitakaruru Honey Ltd

    I'm an image

    Tony Porter, Beekeeping Team Leader

     

    Tony is the team leader of the WHL team. Tony joined the program back in early 2018 when he was living in Rawene, in the Hokianga Region. The program helped Tony obtain his restricted drivers license and a bank account. Tony has 3 children and in early 2019, Tony moved to Auckland to lead the Waitakaruru team.

     

     

    I'm an image

    Sam Pickering, Beekeeper

     

    Sam is our other permanent beekeeper at Waitakaruru. Sam grew up in the Hokianga area (Whirinaki) where he was trained as a beekeeper. Sam started his beekeeping apprenticeship 3 seasons ago in late 2017. Sam has experience in operating 400- 500 beehives in his previous beekeeping supervisory job. Sam is a young father with a young son.

    Image
     
       

    Comments

    Thank you for pledging to our Waitakaruru hot spring Manuka Honey Campaign

    16/01/2020 at 9:27 AM

    Our Waitakaruru hot spring Manuka Honey campaign has finished.  We'd like to thank all of you who pledged to help us get hives to Tokaanu. 

    Over the next few days, we'll be emailing you individually to let you know about the reward you have selected and how to collect it or, in the case of honey, when you can expect delivery.

    Beehives at Tokaanu, ready to collect honey

    22/11/2019 at 11:35 AM

    The manuka trees are flowering at Tokaanu. David rung and said if we do not bring our beehives, we are going to miss the manuka flow. So our BOP team delivered 44 beehives (16 to come next week) to the hot spring site and Dave put the hangi in the ground at 4am this morning.

     

     

     

      Linda Halverston
      14/11/2019 at 6:23pm
      Michelle Sternberg
      14/11/2019 at 9:31am
      Anonymous pledger
      14/11/2019 at 12:10am
      Marama Rose Mitchell
      13/11/2019 at 7:49pm
      Joanne mellis
      12/11/2019 at 11:49pm
      Val Barmes
      12/11/2019 at 5:44pm

      "Woohoo . Let’s get this underway too. "

      Viona Gunawan
      12/11/2019 at 3:01pm
      Trish Vickers
      12/11/2019 at 8:38am
      Anonymous pledger
      12/11/2019 at 7:03am
      Anonymous pledger
      12/11/2019 at 7:02am
      Anonymous pledger
      12/11/2019 at 6:04am
      Mel Dennison
      11/11/2019 at 10:03pm

      "Happy to support another amazing venture with you guys!"

      Craig Nicol
      11/11/2019 at 8:51pm
      Christopher Wilson
      11/11/2019 at 8:49pm
      Warren Jordaan
      11/11/2019 at 7:15pm
      Vivian Gandar
      11/11/2019 at 6:47pm
      Kelly Whittle
      11/11/2019 at 5:50pm

      "Happy to help get more homes for the bees!! 🥰"

      Joyce Tse
      11/11/2019 at 5:40pm
      Sarah
      11/11/2019 at 5:07pm
      Jo Dey
      11/11/2019 at 5:05pm
      Andre
      11/11/2019 at 4:59pm
      Andre
      11/11/2019 at 4:57pm
      Minty Hunter
      11/11/2019 at 4:46pm
      Andrew Rowland
      11/11/2019 at 4:35pm

      "Love helping people out and the bee’s. Good luck. "

      Anthony Bagley
      11/11/2019 at 4:35pm
      Jono Kennedy
      11/11/2019 at 4:24pm
      Anonymous pledger
      11/11/2019 at 4:13pm
      Catherine
      11/11/2019 at 3:29pm
      Martin Morris
      11/11/2019 at 3:27pm
      Martin Morris
      11/11/2019 at 3:26pm

      Followers of Waitakaruru hot spring Manuka Honey !

      This campaign was successful and got its funding on 09/01/2020 at 8:00 PM.
      Eternal Thanks And Facebook Shout Out From Us
      Plant Three Manuka Trees
      One 500g Jar Of UMF 5+ Creamed Manuka Honey
      4 X 500g Jars Of Hive-To-Table Raw Honey (delivery Included)
      4kg Pail Of Hive-To-Table Raw Honey (nationwide Delivery)
      Name A Queen Bee
      2-Hour Hot Tub Session At Dave’s For 2 People
      Bee A Beekeeper For A Half A Day
      Name A Beehive
      Naming Rights To An Apiary