Hansen Honey is a small family owned beekeeping business located in picturesque Karamu, near Te Pahu in the foothills of Mt Pirongia.
Tim and Julie Hansen have been operating their business on a commercial basis for about 15 years but Tim’s experience with bees goes back almost half a century. His Plunket book records that he caught his first swarm of bees at 18 months old! Since then his interest in bees has never wavered.
Tim’s fascination with bees is no surprise given his family history. From the time his great grandfather Johan Hansen arrived in New Zealand in the 1860’s from Denmark, one or other member of the Hansen family has kept bees. Tim’s father and grandfather ran their beekeeping business at Orini in the Waikato from the early 1900’s, and that business remained within the family until about 2012.
Within the extended Hansen family and also located at Orini was Beeville, a community established in 1933. It was a self sufficient agricultural community that earned most of it’s income from honey production. It was also a community that espoused pacifism, vegetarianism and complete individual freedom.
Read More
