Cliff Van Eaton - Manuka: The biography of an extraordinary honey

In researching this project, I have been able to call on my own experiences in New Zealand as a beekeeping advisor, bee disease specialist, consultant and scientist over 30 years. Ive been extremely fortunate to be able to watch the story of manuka honey as it has unfolded over almost that entire time, and I have even had a few direct personal experiences with the honey, both when nobody seemed to want it, and when it developed into one of the most famous (and certainly most expensive) honeys in the world.

More than that, however, I have been helped beyond measure by a number of people who have played central roles in the whole saga. In particular I want to give a special vote of thanks to Dr Peter Molan, who so kindly agreed to a very long interview, as well as provided thoughtful answers to my numerous email queries. Full of energy, ever-inquisitive, and a great communicator of often complicated science in a way that manages to excite the rest of us, Peter is undoubtedly the star of this book.

Thanks also go to the following people for agreeing to interviews: Kerry Simpson, Murray Reid, Malcolm Haines, Les Blackwell, Bill Floyd, Bill Bracks, Julie Betts, Dr Jonathan Stephens and Dr Ralf Schlothauer. They are all important characters whom you will meet in the pages to come, and the time they spent with me sharing their recollections and insights was the most rewarding part of the whole book-writing experience.

After all these years Alan Bougen remains a close personal friend, and he has been my most constant source of encouragement throughout the process of researching, composing and editing this book. My former colleague Dr Mark Goodwin kindly offered access to the archives at Ruakura Agricultural Research Centre, without doubt the most extensive source of historical beekeeping material in New Zealand. And Murray Reid, a fellow beekeeping advisor for many years, opened his ark-hives to me as well. To all three of these great mates, cheers!

Thanks also must go to Bogdan Gan, at Kiwi Bee Ltd, for showing me the companys extraction and processing facility for medical-grade manuka honey, the most technologically sophisticated beekeepers shed I have ever seen. And kia ora to Kuini Puru of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust for coming in on her day off to take me through the mission house at Mangungu.

I am extremely grateful to Gareth St John Thomas and his team at Exisle Publishing, who have been so supportive in allowing me to write this different sort of book on honey. Ian Watt has been a calm and steady influence during the entire book-making process, including book design and proof-reading.

Lastly, let me beg one further moment of your time to pay tribute to my dear Bonniebest friend, life-partner, and chief cook and bottle-washer these past months. Hugs beyond measure, and kisses sweeter than honey!

As I hope will become clear, this is not a scholarly book. The book does, however, contain a number of interesting facts and challenging ideas, and so a Notes section has been included at the end of the book to provide more information about the sources I have used. As well, in the text itself you will find endnote markers (1, 2, ...). This indicates that there is more information about the topic being discussed in the Notes at the end of the book.