Our Thirteenth Newsletter | Limited Edition Release! | New Gift Packs and Four Pack Released Today | Produce Awards Afterglow | Natural Beekeeping Snapshot | Festive Season Shipping and Shopping | Honey and Beekeeping Updates and more |
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Bellbirds in the Bloodwoods
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~•*•~
'in the morning, the gallant Outposts hear; The bell-birds in the bloodwoods'
Outposts
E. J. Brady , 1911
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Greetings Friends ,
Happy Spring to our wonderful subscribers and customers!
We hope the start to the warmer months has spread some sunshine into your hearts and homes. Our amazing bees are very happy to see the sun again and are currently enjoying some modest early spring honey flows in the Blue Mountains. We are hopeful they will produce some more Wild Honeycomb in the coming weeks.
We do have some news to share on the Wild Honey front with one of our rarer varieties back in stock just in time for the festive season which is fast approaching, and a few new gift and mixed packs are now available to purchase in our online shop.
We are also excited to update you on the outcome of the national judging for the prestigious .delicious Harvey Norman Produce awards (that we were nominated for recently), and Tim’s collaboration with the Powerhouse Museum in Parramatta.
As always, Tim will wax lyrical about his Natural Beekeeping adventures as there is lots happening in the apiaries at the moment that he is excited to share with you. So settle in with a cuppa - this missive is a big one!
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2024 delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards
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~~•* WINNER *•~~
National Trophy ~ From The Earth
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If you have not heard already, we were honoured to have been awarded the National Trophy for the From the Earth Category at this year's delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards. We were nominated as a producer, rather than for one specific product, which is a wonderful thing as the awards take into consideration the wholistic nature of running such a small, sustainable and ethical business and producing something as rare and precious as our Wild Honey, Wild Honeycomb and Beeswax. |
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(photo © delicious. Magazine)
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Our From the Earth National Trophy
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We were invited to the prestigious event held at Matt Moran's gorgeous Chiswick Restaurant in Woollahra. In addition to being so fortunate as to have won a trophy, the opportunity to speak with some of our most supportive chefs and food industry luminaries in person, all in the one place, was too good to pass up. We had a perfect evening meeting with the judges, our fellow winning producers and catching up with good friends and inspiring people from the Australian food industry. |
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Tim delivering his speech after receiving the trophy which was presented to us by Lennox Hastie, owner of Firedoor and Gildas Restaurants in Sydney (photo © delicious. Magazine)
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'The delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards is the only national program to recognise the dedication and skill of Australian primary producers. The pool of finalists this year represented producers at the very forefront of the industry, at a time when sustainability and transparency have never been more important.'
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The big announcement! (photo © delicious. Magazine)
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One of the beautiful edible displays of produce - this one features our Wild Honeycomb and Red Stringybark Wild Honey (photo © delicious. Magazine)
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Tim and Emma with the National Judges and Trophy winners of the 2024 delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards (photo © delicious. Magazine)
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Emma, Tim, Mike Bennie (our friend and world class wine journalist who writes the detailed tasting notes for our Wild Honeys) and Kerrie McCallum, editor in chief of delicious. Magazine (photo © delicious. Magazine)
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Another stunning edible display - this beauty showcases our Wild Honeycomb sections, Wild Honey and even our pure beeswax! (photo © delicious. Magazine)
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We are so thankful to be included in the 19th annual awards and that our work and produce is recognised at this level, and appreciated by such a esteemed judging panel.
We are especially grateful to our distributors Two Providores (in particular Sally Gosper and Erica Goldfinch) for ensuring our produce is available to the best of the best, to Matt Moran for hosting the evening (he has been a big supporter of what we do for some time now), and to Laura Baratto from Matt Moran's group and Lennox Hastie of Firedoor in Surry Hills (both wonderful supporters for some years) for nominating us. |
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Red Bloodwood is Back!
'An incredibly complex and compelling honey' * |
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Dusk over the sandstone wildnerness of the Lower Blue Mountains where the Red Bloodwoods grow
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We are so happy to say that our popular Red Bloodwood Limited Edition variety is back in stock for a short time.
Produced in a single apiary deep in the Blue Mountains, Red Bloodwood (Corymbia gummifera) is one of our favourite honey varieties. Red Bloodwood is defined by beekeepers as a ‘short budder’ in that it sets buds in the month before flowering (unlike many other Eucalypts, Corymbia’s and Angophora’s that set their bud one year or more before flowering). Therefore, blossom is highly influenced by environmental conditions immediately preceding and during flowering.
This large tree typically flowers in late Summer and into early Autumn, covering the wilderness canopy with creamy blossoms. This particular harvest is unique as it was a very late and prolonged flowering, meaning we only finished pressing the combs and bottling the honey in winter, ready for a spring release. |
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'An incredibly complex and compelling honey, indeed, one of the most detailed, intriguing and distinct tasting yet. The texture is magnificent, rich, creamy and sticky with a trail of pleasing, lightly silty grip through the ultra-lingering finish. Flavours are lush and luxurious, deep and satisfying, warming almost and, importantly, distinctly nutty-savoury under the caramel and sweet/dried citrus primary flavours. A wealth of indulgent pleasure here. A ‘wow’ honey of highest calibre.
Colour: Medium-gold, hazy-cloudy, flecked
Texture: Ultra creamy/sticky textured, silty finish
Aromas: Toffee, warmed hazelnuts, sandalwood, dried roses, sugared almonds, eucalyptus
Flavours: Crème caramel, almond, candied orange, ginger, toasted hazelnuts, cinnamon'
* Mike Bennie, Australian Writer, Public Speaker and Wine Journalist
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Red Bloodwoods dot the native forests in the lower Blue Mountains national park
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This rich and sweet honey has deep resinous notes owing to the 'blood' or kino/resin produced in abundance which gives the tree its common name. The amber colour and unique texture make for a beautiful, wild honey produced in a wild landscape. It is a true terroir honey, capturing the essence of the Blue Mountains.
This exquisite Wild Honey is now available in single 500g jars and in some of our existing 500g mixed and 500g gift packs. We have also added it to a new mixed 4 pack and a new 500g 2 jar gift pack especially for today's release.
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 A 500g gift pack of Wild Honey featuring two of our Blue Mountains varieties - Post Brood and Red Bloodwood |
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Be sure to snaffle some up soon and beat the Christmas rush - we think this one might walk out the door given how popular the last release was!
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Talk the Talk
Upcoming Powerhouse Food: Producers Event |
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Tim is excited to be giving a producer talk during the Powerhouse Food: Producers events next year (photo © Parramatta Powerhouse Museum)
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Tim was pleasantly surprised when Powerhouse Museum's Kitchen program manager, Xinyi Lim, approached him about doing a talk/worskhop to throw a spotlight on small producers in the Sydney basin working in a sustainable and ethical way.
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'Powerhouse is thrilled to announce the launch of Powerhouse Food: Producers, a curated food program that showcases the rich and diverse food production landscape of Western Sydney. Each (event) will provide an up-close and personal insight into Sydney’s most innovative, contemporary food producers as they share stories of sustainability and entrepreneurship while fostering industry collaboration and community engagement....join Australian natural beekeeping pioneer Tim Malfroy for a wild honey tasting as he discusses the importance of bees and pollination in Western Sydney’s pristine Blue Mountains.'
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Architectual rendering of the future Parramatta Powerhouse Museum (photo: © mcgregorcoxall)
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Stix Farm in the Hawkesbury where Tim's event will take place in May next year (photo © Riviera Australia))
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Held at the beautiful Stix Farm in the Hawkesbury, Tim will lead attendees through the principles of natural and sustainable beekeeping, wild honey production and the importance of bees and pollination to food production in Western Sydney. Audience members will also get to taste wild honey produced by our bees, followed by a lunch featuring our produce and organic ingredients from Stix Farm.
We believe Tim's event sold out almost immediately, but your details can be added to a notification list if there are any cancellations.
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Receiving a coveted delicious. Harvey Norman Produce award is an honour in and of itself, but one of the added benefits is that the glamour of the evening and enormity of a producer's achievements to become a recipient are imprinted on the food and media industries in the following months.
We were very fortunate to have our produce on the cover of the Produce Awards section of the September issue of delicious. magazine and a dessert recipe written by Danielle Alvarez, one of the National judges, that uses our Wild Honey was included in that edition. You can find the recipe in the Awards section here.
delicious. Magazine also published a wonderful article about Tim and Malfroy's Gold as part of the trophy recipient media coverage. |
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'There are some products that you think you know. Then someone comes along and changes the game. The honey that Tim Malfroy produces is unlike any other, which is why Malfroy’s Gold Wild Honey was crowned the From the Earth winner at the delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards'
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Malfroy's Gold produce made the cover of the special September delicious. Produce Awards edition (photo © delicious. Magazine)
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From the delicious. online article, Jo Barrett and Karena Armstrong, two of the National judges, tasting our Red Stringybark and Post Brood Wild Honey during judging
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Excerpt from the Produce Awards edition of delicious. Magazine, Daniel Alvarez's gorgeous Malfroy's Gold Honey Parfait Slice recipe
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Below is the dessert featuring our Wild Honey and the menu from the illustrious event at Chiswick. Dishes served at the awards often pop up on the menu following the event, so you might be lucky enough to taste the scrumptious Pecan and Malfroy's Gold Honey Pie again at Chiswick sometime soon.
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A copy of the menu served at Chiswick Restaurant for the Produce Awards event which incorporated our Wild Honey into the Dessert course
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Pecan and Wild Honey Pie - dessert at Chiswick for the 2024 delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards featuring our Red Stringybark
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A longtime supporter and judge of the delicious. Produce Awards, Peter Gilmore, spoke with us during the award event and was excited to share that he was working on a new dessert featuring our Post Brood Wild Honey.
As Peter has made some intricate and mouthwatering dishes with our produce in the past (including the amazing dish pictured at the close of this missive), we were very excited to see what he was working on. When we found out he had released the dish officially at one of his Sydney restaurants, Quay, only last week, we just had to share it with our readers.
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Quay, one of Peter Gilmore's fine dining restaurants on the harbour. Peter has been working with our Wild Honey produce for some years now in both of his Sydney restaurants
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'This new dessert has been in development for 3 months featuring Malfroys post brood wild honey collected from the world heritage Blue Mountains, 2 hours West of Sydney & Ligurian bee mead from South Australia. This is the most joyous part of my job creating a new dish with my team for our customers.'
Peter Gilmore,Quay
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Peter's latest dessert, Post Brood Honey Bee, featuring Malfroy's Blue Mountains Post Brood wild honey (photo © @chefpetergilmore | Instagram)
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Lennox Hastie and Peter Gilmore at the delicious. Harvey Norman Produce awards event - two world renowned chefs who have supported our work for many years - we are so blessed! (photo © delicious. Magazine)
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~•*•~
Wandering into Woodcut
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The day after our beautiful evening spent with the stars of Australia's culinary scene and our new award winning fishing acquaintances from Western Australia (Revolution Fisheries) and Queensland (Chris Bolton) (note: never try to outdrink a fishermen on a weeknight), we were so happy to have one day in Sydney to reflect and soak up the sun, sans children.
Naturally we decided to dine out where our produce is included on the menu so booked into two of Sydney's best restaurants. Thankfully the weather was perfect and one was in walking distance!
So, our long, late breakfast/lunch was at Ross and Sunny Lusted's inspired restaurant, Woodcut, at the foot of the Crown Casino looking out over Darling Harbour.
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Tim enroute to Woodcut in Crown Casino, Darling Harbour
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Ross Lusted's handmade Aphrodite Halloumi, roasted with Malfroy’s sweet wild honey, thyme and juicy figs
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Ross has always been a wonderful supporter of our work and reguarly features our Wild Honey and Honeycomb in his dishes (we covered his work and use of our produce in more detail in one of our previous newsletters if you are interested).
We were lucky to sample the Halloumi showcasing our Wild Honey and Honeycomb amongst many other delectable dishes on the day - we highly recommend the restaurant with it's breezey, well lit rooms, creative decor and design, and the relaxed yet elegant dining experience for all of the family. |
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Our dinner was hosted by Lennox Hastie himself at the award winning Firedoor resaturant in Surry Hills - read on for a more detailed account of that incredible dining experience! |
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For more information on Tim Malfroy and Malfroy's Gold in the public eye, visit our Social, Awards, Blogs and Media pages (the latter also includes recipes from some of Australia's finest chefs who work with our produce!) |
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Tim and Emma were honoured to have a front row seat to the spectacle that is Lennox Hastie and his team at work in Hastie's Firedoor restaurant
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As Lennox Hastie has long been a supporter of our work, and we had a great time catching up with him at the Produce Awards the night before, we were very keen to have our last meal in Sydney at his world renowned restaurant, Firedoor, in Surry Hills.
Lennox squeezed us in at the bar where we had the privelge of watching he and his chefs at work in front of the impressive custom wood fueled furnaces/ovens the establishment is famous for.
The experience was riveting and almost theatrical in a way, Lennox and his team weaving amongst the flames, in good-natured and synchronised fashion, transforming the best of Australia's ingredients in their purest form into entirely original creations - all while maintaining the integrity of the produce he prizes so highly.
In addition to the thrill of just watching, and eating the food fresh off the coals, Lennox surprised us with a few custom dishes made using our produce that were just for us - a very generous gesture and true honour. |
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Tim and Emma at the bar at Firedoor while Lennox is in the kitchen cooking his amazing daily changing menu
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The custom petit fours dish Lennox prepared for us with Malfroy's Gold Wild Honey used in the Canelés. Needless to say, the flavours were intense and delicate all at once
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Another of Lennox's inspired custom dishes for Tim and Emma - this one is bone marrow with shaved truffle and Red Stringybark Wild Honey served on a wattleseed flat bread - a decadent and mindblowing combination!
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Lennox preparing Chris Bolton's Coral Trout (the Producer of the year). The dish was divine and Chris and Kim were also present to taste it that night
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We are ever grateful to the culinary artisans who support us by working our produce into their inspiring creations - Lennox, in particular, goes above and beyond. He treats our Wild Honey products with such reverence and is invested in passing on the stories of all the produce he is serving at his unique restaurants in Australia. Thank you again Lennox! |
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As mentioned in our last missive, Tim has been busy bottling the Wild Honey produced during the late Autumn honeyflows in the Blue Mountains.
In addition to our almost permanently available varieties, we now have our Limited Edition Red Bloodwood single 500g jars available again and a few gift packs and one new four pack featuring that variety as well.
Our 200g and 500g Gift packs are always a great choice for those wanting to sample a number of varieties or for a quick and easy gift - especially with the festive season around the corner.
Quite a few of our existing Mixed Wild Honey Four Packs in 500g and 1kg jars have also been restocked for those who prefer to buy in larger quantities at a reduced price. These numbers are limited so be sure to jump in soon.
As always, we have E-Gift vouchers on offer to help with those last minute gift giving situations!
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Shipping and Housekeeping
(Pre-Christmas)
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Please note when ordering that it can take us up to a week to process orders as everything is done in house, from the production of the goods all the way through to the packaging and posting of your order. We generally allow another week for goods to be delivered as we live in Regional Australia. Make sure to take this into consideration when finalising any orders.
To guarantee delivery by Christmas we advise you to place your orders by the end of November in order for us to meet Australia Post's Christmas deadlines.
We will be closing on the 19th December, however, online orders can still be placed, and will be shipped, up until that date.
Our online store will be open over the Christmas break, however, we won't be posting orders out between the 19th December and 6th January.
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~•*•~
This Month's Select Products |
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Wild Honey 500g
Limited Edition
Red Bloodwood
Now $42.00
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Wild Honey 1kg
Blue Mountains
Four Pack
Now $270.00
$300.00
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Wild Honey 500g
Mixed Varieties
Four Pack
Now $150.00
$168.00
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Wild Honey 500g
Limited Edition
Two Jar Gift Pack
Now $84.00
$86.00
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* Please note we are bound by Australian Biosecurity regulations so are not permitted to send honey to TAS, NT or WA |
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Tim's Warré beekeeping adventures in the Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands |
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The beauty of delicate Wild Virgin Comb - one of Spring's gifts to a Natural Beekeeper
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Spring has well and truly arrived in the Blue Mountains and the abundance of flowering plants at this time of year is always a joy to behold. Did you know that the Blue Mountains is the third most biodiverse temperate plant region in the world!? Every day a new species bursts into blossom, leading to a crescendo of spring wildflowers that the bees gladly visit.
One of the most interesting aspects of our permanent apiaries in the Blue Mountains is the range of ecosystems the bees can forage. Heathland, forest, woodland, riparian, swampland, rainforest are all located together in close proximity due to the climate and topography of the area, giving the bees a wonderfully diverse and rich diet. This contributes greatly to the health of the colonies and also enables us to produce a uniquely flavoured, rich, medicinal Wild Honey.
As I write, the virgin combs are being built by the bees and the countdown is on for the first harvest of our Wild Honeycomb frames (available December 2024). These are produced seasonally in a short window during late spring and summer when the colonies are at their peak. They are the perfect gift for any foodie and an amazing addition to any cheese platter. I can’t wait to serve them at home during the festive season with some nice cheese and fruit.
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Our natural beekeeping methods combined with the wild bees and unique flowering plants of the Blue Mountains results in a medicinal Wild Honey, rich with bee bread and propolis
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The eye catching Waratah (Telopea speciosissima) is one of many hundreds of spring flowering species in the Blue Mountains
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As I’ve mentioned before in previous newsletters, all of our hives are made with 100% salvaged timber - something I’m very proud of, as most hives these days are made with imported plantation pine, polystyrene or plastic. Salvaged timber hives are better for the bees (the interior roughness and imperfections of the timber resemble that of a tree hollow and encourage antiseptic propolis production by the bees, resulting in a germ free nest atmosphere), better for the beekeeper (timber hives are often preserved in toxic chemicals) and better for the environment (extremely low carbon footprint compared to all other options and entirely chemical free). We’ve just taken delivery of our most recent pack of local timber that has been drying for a year, milled from a gigantic Swamp Cypress (Taxodium distichum) salvaged log (keen readers will remember me writing about this special timber in a previous newsletter in August 2023). I can’t wait to get stuck into building more bee boxes, particularly experimenting with thicker walled hives to more closely resemble a tree hollow - stay tuned for more details. Using these salvaged timber hives, I am conducting a number of field trials this spring with a focus on bee-friendly and chemical free ways to alleviate the stress placed on colonies by the newly arrived and destructive parasite Varroa destructor, a tiny mite that over time will weaken and kill colonies. Early results are promising and I look forward to sharing more information in future missives. |
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Discussing hive plans with our friend and hive builder Bernhard at Mt Tomah in the Blue Mountains. We’re always experimenting with new improved designs and modifications
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Delivery of local salvaged timber milled from Swamp Cypress - ready to be dressed, graded and turned into long lasting bee friendly Warré beehives!
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The arrival of Varroa has the ability to reshape not just the beekeeping industry, but greatly impact various agricultural industries and plant ecology as well, as it is predicted that Varroa will wipe out more that 90% of honeybee colonies in the landscape. Figuring out ways to support the bees during this time is crucially important, with the long term goal being co-adaptation between mite and bee.
Part of this bee-friendly approach is to continue our work with ‘Darwinian’ beekeeping - using natural selection as a cornerstone of our apiary practises. We allow colonies to swarm naturally, build their own comb (choosing cell size and type), raise their own queens and open mate in the local environment. Over time the stronger colonies take precedence and the apiary becomes self sustaining - adapted to both the abundance and harsh realities of its environment and any pests and diseases.
In essence, the decision making about what is best for the colony is made by the colony, not the beekeeper. The natural beekeepers job is to ‘read’ each colony in its context - its life journey, the surrounding environment and food availability, climate and many other variables and adjust beekeeping practises accordingly. This approach involves a life time of learning, deepening the understanding and connection to the landscape with each season.
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A wild virgin queen has recently emerged from this natural queen cell. We allow our colonies to raise their own queens and open mate in the local environment
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The ‘shook swarm’ method mimics a natural swarm and encourages the colony to build fresh comb, thereby reducing pest and pathogen load
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As a natural beekeeper, this time of year is hard to wrap your head around as the workload exponentially increases alongside other demands leading into Christmas. So, wish us luck and thankyou a million times for all your interest and support, we really appreciate it.
If you enjoy reading our newsletters you can view archived copies of them here, as well as articles that I’ve written which I hope to add to when there is a spare minute.
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Tim will continue to fill your feed with updates from the field about the ever changing and unique flora of the regions, bee biology, our wild honey produce and other interesting things - all bee related - follow along below!
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As always, thank you to everyone who contacted us or purchased items after reading our previous newsletters or seeing the delicious. article in September, particularly those of you who took the time to let us know how much you and your loved ones enjoy our Wild Honey. Your ongoing support of what we do inspires us to keep working hard to produce the most natural Wild Honey in Australia!
We are grateful to everyone for their continued patience between updates and we hope you enjoyed our thirteenth missive. (If you missed our last newsletter and would like to read it you can do so here.)
Thank you for reading,
Tim, Emma and the Daughters of Light
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Peter Gilmore's Anatomy of a Dish at Quay, The Rocks ~ A brik pastry tart shell is filled with Banksia cheese-infused custard, salted walnuts, and a jelly made from our Wild honey. (Photo © @quayrestaurant | Instagram ) |
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