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Manuka – the biography of an extraordinary honey

  • February 4th, 2015

Friends gave me this knowing vaguely that I’d had many hives. I saw that the author, Cliff van Eaton, was described as a beekeeping adviser and consultant and prepared myself to skim.
I expected a clumsily constructed amalgam of deep technical material with partisan opinion and passion. I thought I would know most of the content I’d be interested in.
Instead I found an absorbing story, a great deal of new and fascinating information explained for non-scientists, a well constructed narrative, vivid writing and respect for all he mentions.
The negotiation of the shoals of judgment in an industry offering plenty of people and conduct that justifies it, is a special achievement.
The affectionate description of Peter Molan and his vital role is timely. He gestated the scientific attention which has transformed the Manuka weed to its current status, then protected and sponsored it till it demanded the international attention well described in the book.
Highly recommended.

Comments

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Hi Stephen,

Yes I enjoyed the book, and was surprised about some of the history of this amazing honey in New Zealand. It seems strange to me that beekeepers used to feed it to cows and give it away, and now its $60 a jar for some active jars.

Last December I went down to the Hamilton Library to attend an event with Cliff Van Eaton and Dr Peter Molan.

We recorded his talk and Cliff reads from his book. A great introduction to book.

This is part one of the talks, we will be releasing the second part with Peter Molan in the future.

The video is on youtube at:-
Manuka the biography of an extraordinary honey Talk

Thanks

Gary Fawcett
kiwimana

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