Manuka, the World’s Most Coveted Honey (2018) • Hacker News Board

Re: Manuka, the World’s Most Coveted Honey (2018)

#21

Post by peterburkimsher » Sat, Nov 07, 2020, 2:00 AM UTC

I had an interesting chat with John McDermott at the IoT meetup in Auckland last week. He said that honey is one of the most difficult markets for IoT.

What's so hard about it? Connectivity isn't great in NZ - there's no phone signal in the remote places where beehives are common. Artisan beekeepers don't care about analytics to increase their yield; they're just doing it for fun (sometimes after retiring from other careers). Larger companies already have systems in place, or can afford the loss.

It seems like it would be an excellent opportunity: beehives get stolen, or overflow with honey, and the temperature and humidity of the hive have a huge outcome on the resulting product. Swarm Space or LoRaWAN might be able to help with connectivity. But the market is just really hard to get into when the customers don't have an incentive to pay for efficiency.

Re: Manuka, the World’s Most Coveted Honey (2018)

#22

Post by cmroanirgo » Sat, Nov 07, 2020, 2:00 AM UTC

jelliclesfarm wrote: post #4

ggm wrote: post #2

A very partisan write up. I love NZ honey and make a point of buying a particular NZ manuka honey (arataki) when I see it, but the Australian manuka honey is not "cashing in" on the NZ trade, it has existed for decades and medicinal honey for tropical ulcer treatment has existed for decades in Australia. The decision to award DOC classification was itself a "cashing in" move despite manuka being patently a semi gener…

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-21/native-honeybees-prov... : thanks for the headsup about sugarbag honey! stingless bees even! [..]Unlike harvesting from a commercial or hobby hive, taking honey from a native sugarbag hive often means the entire colony is destroyed. But Dr Smith said land clearing, rather than traditional hunting, was the biggest threat to native bee colonies. He said sugarbag hunting had a mino…

Australian native bees, apart from not having stingers, are tiny... about the same size as a baby fly. Most importantly, their hive structure is incompatible with normal modern beekeeping hives, hence they honey is taken directly from hives on trees, in the bush. I recall that attempts are being made to have them work in normal boxes, but understand it's tricky.

Also, Jelly Bush is the common name for the NZ equivalent Manuka bush, both are of the tea tree family.

Re: Manuka, the World’s Most Coveted Honey (2018)

#23

Post by elchief » Sat, Nov 07, 2020, 2:11 AM UTC

mdifrgechd wrote: post #5

> Manuka is a versatile sugar substitute that’s lower on the glycemic index,” he says. “It won’t spike your blood sugar levels immediately in the way white sugar does.” The sugar in honey is roughly a 50/50 mix of glucose and fructose, there is nothing metabolically special about the sugar. Fructose has a lower glycemic index because it is metabolized first into triglycerides- it may be better for diabetics in some c…

I like to think of it as wine vs vodka. Both have alcohol, but wine is somewhat better for you due to polyphenols

Re: Manuka, the World’s Most Coveted Honey (2018)

#24

Post by Reason077 » Sat, Nov 07, 2020, 2:18 AM UTC

mkl wrote: post #11

lukehutch wrote: post #7

I grew up in NZ and find it hilarious when I see a tub of manuka honey in a supermarket in the US. This is the most genius marketing ripoff of all time. Most honey you could buy in NZ back then was either clover honey or manuka honey, it cost about $3 for the same amount, and there was nothing special about manuka honey. Manuka is just teatree, by the way. And all honey has the same antimicrobial properties -- it has…

Exactly, manuka honey was always just ordinary honey in NZ! It's like this article is from an alternate reality or something.

> "Exactly, manuka honey was always just ordinary honey in NZ!"

Not any more. Cheaper to buy it in the UK I reckon!

Re: Manuka, the World’s Most Coveted Honey (2018)

#25

Post by Jimmc414 » Sat, Nov 07, 2020, 2:24 AM UTC

lukehutch wrote: post #7

I grew up in NZ and find it hilarious when I see a tub of manuka honey in a supermarket in the US. This is the most genius marketing ripoff of all time. Most honey you could buy in NZ back then was either clover honey or manuka honey, it cost about $3 for the same amount, and there was nothing special about manuka honey. Manuka is just teatree, by the way. And all honey has the same antimicrobial properties -- it has…

>The reason honey kills microbes is it has exceptionally low water content.

Do you have a source for this?

A simple search on scholar.google.com for "manuka" and "MRSA" studies in 2020 and there is a substantial amount of evidence showing its unique medical properties.

Re: Manuka, the World’s Most Coveted Honey (2018)

#26

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Nov 07, 2020, 2:42 AM UTC

elchief wrote: post #23

mdifrgechd wrote: post #5

> Manuka is a versatile sugar substitute that’s lower on the glycemic index,” he says. “It won’t spike your blood sugar levels immediately in the way white sugar does.” The sugar in honey is roughly a 50/50 mix of glucose and fructose, there is nothing metabolically special about the sugar. Fructose has a lower glycemic index because it is metabolized first into triglycerides- it may be better for diabetics in some c…

I like to think of it as wine vs vodka. Both have alcohol, but wine is somewhat better for you due to polyphenols

[deleted]

Re: Manuka, the World’s Most Coveted Honey (2018)

#27

Post by eightails » Sat, Nov 07, 2020, 2:46 AM UTC

I don't really understand the point of advertising the 'anti-microbial' properties. Antiseptic creams are far less expensive if you're applying it to wounds. Ingesting something for its anti-microbial properties seems a bit strange when there is plenty of research suggesting that having a healthy gut microbiome is beneficial[0]. People eat certain kinds of yoghurt for the very purpose of encouraging gut microbe activity.

Is this purely to advertise to the homeopathic crowd or am I missing something here?

[0] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12967-017-1175-y

Re: Manuka, the World’s Most Coveted Honey (2018)

#28

Post by jelliclesfarm » Sat, Nov 07, 2020, 3:14 AM UTC

ggm wrote: post #8

jelliclesfarm wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there is a lot of hype w/manuka here and i dont think we have ever heard of australian honey here stateside. a lot of honey is malted sweet syrup sadly. i had to label my honey 'gluten free' and 'organic'...both claims are ridiculous, but labeling is such a headache. we do not have AOC type labeling tho'...except for lavender and orange blossom honey etc that have single floral flavours and not blended, then a radius…

If you've got poisonwood honey.. wait til you try Turkish seasonal... HALLUCINOGENIC honey.. (sorry for clickbaity) which actually exists and is a "thing"

I wonder how honey from marijuana would taste like...I guess they don’t have nectar? Anyone knows?

Re: Manuka, the World’s Most Coveted Honey (2018)

#29

Post by jelliclesfarm » Sat, Nov 07, 2020, 3:15 AM UTC

eightails wrote: post #27

I don't really understand the point of advertising the 'anti-microbial' properties. Antiseptic creams are far less expensive if you're applying it to wounds. Ingesting something for its anti-microbial properties seems a bit strange when there is plenty of research suggesting that having a healthy gut microbiome is beneficial[0]. People eat certain kinds of yoghurt for the very purpose of encouraging gut microbe activ…

Honey is food and cheap. And easily available. And natural. What’s not to love?

Re: Manuka, the World’s Most Coveted Honey (2018)

#30

Post by Sunspark » Sat, Nov 07, 2020, 3:31 AM UTC

ggm wrote: post #8

jelliclesfarm wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there is a lot of hype w/manuka here and i dont think we have ever heard of australian honey here stateside. a lot of honey is malted sweet syrup sadly. i had to label my honey 'gluten free' and 'organic'...both claims are ridiculous, but labeling is such a headache. we do not have AOC type labeling tho'...except for lavender and orange blossom honey etc that have single floral flavours and not blended, then a radius…

If you've got poisonwood honey.. wait til you try Turkish seasonal... HALLUCINOGENIC honey.. (sorry for clickbaity) which actually exists and is a "thing"

Except for the fact that it's a poisonous neurotoxin..