Hive to Home: Hampson Honey
We sat down with Karin Hampson to talk about Hampson Honey's journey from one backyard hive to a thriving beekeeping business with over 2,000 - while keeping the process as close to nature as possible.
What honey products do you sell?
The main product we sell is raw honey, harvested straight from our beehives and bottled with minimal handling. It’s unpasteurised, not fine filtered, and full of all the good stuff - pollen, enzymes, and the natural character that comes from the flowers our bees forage on throughout the seasons.
What makes us unique is that we grade all our honeys and ensure only A-grade honey goes into our retail range. It’s unblended and undiluted with inferior quality honeys. This means every batch is carefully selected to be bottled and will taste uniquely different from every other batch. We embrace these differences that nature provides instead of fighting against nature to make everything taste the same.
In addition to our retail products, we also supply bulk honey for industrial and hospitality use - whether it’s for meaderies, cafés, restaurants, or food manufacturers. We match our customers to the honey profile they require. If they want a stronger taste or a darker honey, we can supply them with what they prefer.
We also offer honeycomb, which is exactly as the bees built it - cut straight from the frame and packed fresh. It’s a beautiful, unprocessed way to enjoy honey, and a favourite for cheese boards, gifting, or anyone who wants to experience honey in its purest form.
Then there’s beeswax, which we collect during the honey extraction process. It’s cleaned using only filtered rainwater and fine-filtered, and we sell it in blocks for people who use it for making candles, skincare products, beeswax food wraps, wood polish, and more. It’s a great example of how nothing in the hive goes to waste.
Can you explain the process from hive to home?
Our process from hive to home is focused on preserving the natural quality of the honey at every step. It starts with our bees. We move our hives around Queensland and New South Wales to source the best pollen and nectar for our bees. This makes our operation migratory, allowing us to chase honey flows and better conditions for our bees.
Different flowers produce different kinds of honey, so we aim to chase nectar that produces a delicious, light, thick and sweet honey.
Once the bees have filled the frames and capped them with wax, we know it’s ready to harvest. We only remove the excess honey frames. The wax caps are removed by hand, and the frames go into an extractor - a machine that spins them to release the honey.
We take samples to grade them by flavour and colour. From there, the honey flows through a coarse filter. Once filtered, the honey is then bottled, labelled and boxed.
We keep the process as close to nature as possible - no additives, no overprocessing, and no shortcuts.
How long does it take from hive to harvest?
It depends on the season, the weather, and the strength of the hive. Typically, from the time bees start foraging in early spring, it can take six to eight weeks for them to collect nectar, convert it into honey, and cap it in the comb.
We don’t harvest until the honey is fully ripened and sealed with wax - this ensures it has the right moisture content and won’t ferment.
Our motto is 'take care of the bees and they will take care of us', so everything is centered around them and their timing.
Are there particular conditions that affect production?
Yes, most of them are out of our hands, which is part of the challenge and the beauty of beekeeping. Weather is the biggest factor. Bees need warm, dry days to fly and forage. If it’s too cold, wet, or windy, they’ll stay in the hive. Periods of drought can be devastating.
Nectar flow is another one. That’s the period when flowers are blooming and producing nectar in good volume. It varies depending on rainfall, soil conditions, and temperature. This is why we move bees around.
The health of the hive is critical too. A strong well-managed colony with a healthy, young queen and plenty of workers will always produce more than a struggling one. We keep a close eye on things like disease, pests, and hive strength to ensure our bees are happy, healthy and thriving.
Is the honey handled in a specific or careful way to preserve quality?
Absolutely. Preserving the quality of our honey is at the core of everything we do. We never overheat or pasteurise our honey. High heat can destroy the natural enzymes, antioxidants, and flavour compounds that make raw honey so special. We keep temperatures low throughout the process to protect those natural benefits. It makes the process take longer and costs more, but we feel it’s definitely worth it!
We also avoid fine filtration. We use a coarse filter to remove wax or debris but leave behind the good stuff, like pollen and trace minerals, that contribute to both flavour and nutritional value.
We store our honey in airtight, food-grade containers, away from light and heat. Only food grade stainless steel equipment is used throughout the entire extraction and bottling process.
Are there specialised tools, equipment, or skills involved in preparing the honey?
Yes - while it might look simple, preparing high-quality honey requires specialised tools, the right equipment, and hands-on skill that comes with experience. Carl [Hampson, Co-Founder] always says beekeeping is 50% skill and 50% feel. Intuition plays a major role. When working with nature, there is no one way to do something. It’s very much an art of going with the flow and reading the bees and the environment at the time. We’ve started our beekeeping journey close to seventeen years ago, and we are still learning new things about these wonderful creatures daily!
It takes time and care to maintain a healthy hive and get it from hive to shelf-ready without compromising its quality.
How Hampson Honey maintains quality and consistency
Careful hive management: We monitor our hives regularly to keep the bees healthy and strong. Healthy bees produce better honey. We manage pests, diseases, and stress factors proactively, and make sure the bees have plenty of food and a clean environment.
Strategic hive placement: We place our hives in areas with diverse, spray-free forage. This helps ensure the nectar sources are consistent in quality and free from contaminants, which directly impacts the flavour and purity of the honey.
Timing the harvest: We only harvest honey when it’s fully capped, meaning the moisture content is stable and the honey won’t ferment. This timing keeps the honey fresh and maintains its natural enzymes and flavour.
Grading every batch: Once harvested, every batch of honey and honeycomb is carefully graded. Only A-grade honey and honeycomb meet our standards for colour, taste, and moisture content, and those are the only honeys we use in our retail and A-grade bulk range. This ensures our customers receive the highest quality product every time.
Minimal processing: We don’t heat or fine filter our honey. By keeping processing to a minimum, we preserve the honey’s natural characteristics. This means each batch might vary slightly, but always within a high-quality range.
Small batch handling: Harvesting and bottling in small batches allows us to monitor each batch closely. We test moisture levels and check for colour and taste before packaging.
Consistent storage: We store honey in food-grade containers, away from heat and light, to keep it stable before it reaches customers.
Ultimately, while raw honey naturally varies, our approach ensures that every jar is pure, fresh, and made with care.
What story are you trying to tell through your branding and packaging?
We are trying to convey a message of quality, integrity and family. We want every jar to feel like more than just a product - it’s a little piece of the Australian landscape, shaped by hardworking bees and cared for by a small, family-owned and operated business.
There’s also a bigger story. Trust in honey has been shaken because some larger packers haven’t always done the right thing - blending or mixing in sugar syrups and other additives that don’t belong. We’re committed to winning that trust back by offering customers a genuine, pure alternative.
When you buy Hampson Honey, you’re not just choosing quality - you’re supporting a family business that’s dedicated to doing the right thing for bees, the environment, and the community.
What part of this whole process do you love most - and what part is the hardest?
The part we love most is making a sale. It’s incredibly flattering and encouraging when people believe in what we’re doing and choose to support us. Every sale is a vote of confidence in our commitment to quality and doing the right thing, and that means a lot to our small family business.
The hardest part is the unpredictability - drought, flooding, bushfires, disease outbreaks, or even record low honey prices. This was part of why we decided to vertically integrate - to have other revenue sources during tough times.
But it’s the passion for the bees and the support from our customers that keeps us going.
Have there been any unexpected hurdles or successes along the way?
Our greatest success has been getting our honey stocked in Woolworths. It’s helped us reach more people and share the story of our family, our bees, and the care we put into every jar. We get lovely emails all the time from happy customers saying our honey tastes like the honey they remember from their childhood.
The other day we even had an email from an analytical chemist who said he tested our honey and it came up as unadulterated. He said he was a massive fan of our honey and will only be buying ours from now on.
The biggest current threat to our industry is the varroa mite. Varroa destructor is a parasitic mite that attacks honeybee colonies, weakening and often destroying them if left unmanaged. It’s considered one of the most serious biosecurity threats facing beekeepers here in Australia. Countries around the world that have dealt with varroa mites have seen massive impacts - colony losses as high as 80-90% in some cases, and severe disruptions to honey production and crop pollination.
Once varroa mite establishes itself in Australia, it could devastate our industry, affecting not only honey production but also the broader agricultural ecosystem that relies on bees for pollination.
It’s a battle we’re all watching closely, and one that underscores how fragile and precious our work is.
What would make it easier for producers like you to thrive?
The biggest thing would be the government banning or restricting honey imports. At the moment, honey producers in Australia must pay a honey levy and beekeepers also pollinate one third of the crops that we eat. Allowing cheap (usually fake) honey imports drives the cost down below what it costs to produce.
Currently, our industry is in crisis and beekeepers are exiting the industry on mass for this reason. It breaks my heart. Customers can help by buying only 100% Australian honey.
Greater consumer awareness and education about what real, pure, raw honey is - and why it matters - would help build stronger demand for quality products. Our aim is to turn everyone into honey snobs with our retail range by giving them a taste of what real raw A-grade honey is supposed to taste like! Once they taste real honey, they will never go back to cheaper alternatives!
Fair pricing structures are also essential. It’s challenging when retailers or distributors push prices below what it costs to produce quality honey, especially when competing against cheap imports and fake honey. Policies or initiatives that protect and promote authentic Australian honey would help level the playing field.
Support for small, family-run businesses through grants, marketing assistance, or easier access to new markets - both domestically and internationally - would enable producers like us to grow sustainably without compromising quality.
And ongoing investment in biosecurity and research, particularly to combat threats like the varroa mite, is critical to safeguard our industry’s future.
What’s in store for Hampson Honey over the next ten years?
Our vision is to grow Hampson Honey into a global brand known for trust, quality, and sustainability. If we can sell more honey than we produce, we can buy in high-quality honey from other beekeepers who run their businesses on organic principles, just like we do.
Without strong support for Aussie beekeepers and a commitment to buying only genuine Australian honey, the future of the Australian beekeeping industry is at serious risk. This isn’t just about honey on supermarket shelves; it’s about protecting the pollination of countless crops and the health of our entire agricultural ecosystem.
We plan to expand hive numbers and invest in innovative, sustainable practices and to ensure the health of our bees and the environment. And we’re committed to developing new products and building partnerships in Asia, North America, and beyond.
Most importantly, we want to keep our family-owned values at the heart of everything we do - staying true to our roots, prioritising quality over quantity, and fostering genuine connections with our customers. It’s incredible that our journey started sixteen years ago with one beehive. Today, we have over 2,000 hives.
Anything else you think our readers should know?
Honey isn’t just a sweetener - it’s the result of a complex, delicate ecosystem and a lot of hard work by bees and beekeepers alike. Every jar of our honey represents a commitment to quality, sustainability, and doing the right thing from hive to home.
We’re proud to be a small, family-owned business. Supporting companies like ours means supporting the future of Australian honey. Ask questions, seek out genuine products, and support local beekeepers. Together, consumers have the power to protect this incredible industry and ensure that real honey continues to thrive for generations to come.
Every jar tells a story of nature, hard work, and hope. By choosing genuine, high-quality honey, you’re not just making a purchase; you’re joining a movement to protect our bees, support family-run businesses, and preserve a precious part of our environment.
Find out more and browse the delicious range of honey products at www.hampsonhoney.com.au
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