Imperial Bee Honey

Imperial Bee honey was New Zealand’s first effort toward a branded and consistent pack of blended honeys.  It was packed and sold for more than 50 years, and it provided an important identity for NZ honeys sold in the UK and Europe. Light amber in colour it provided a way to effectively blend some of New Zealand’s honeys. In later years, the pack became a primarily clover blend.

Creating a Standard Pack

The pack was created by the NZ Co-op Honey Producers Assn (the HPA) in 1919.  The HPA’s marketing philosophy was to supply honey in a consumer pack, rather than bulk.  Unlike the competing countries for the UK market the honey was sold in a granulated/creamed form rather than liquid.

The HPA had two blending/packing plants, one on Stanley St in Auckland, and another south of the Thames, between London Bridge and Southwark Bridge.  The London operation ultimately packed honey sold throughout Europe.  They were operated in a similar fashion by the HPA, with the Imperial Bee honey packed in London being sold through the agents of the HPA, A.J. Mills and later C. & E. Morton.

Through the early 1920’s, the honey was sent by beekeepers to the UK in 60 pound tins, granulated solid for better transport.  (The use of second-hand tins that were previously used to transport petrol were only restricted in 1921!)  In London, the tins were warmed, blended to create a standard colour and flavour profile and then re-packed into the small tins and glass containers suitable to directly supply the retail  trade.  In later years a more systematic creaming process was introduced.  The intent was to mix West Coast rata honey with manuka from Northland and clover honeys from the Waikato and South Island.

Equipment Limitations

The equipment needed to handle honey in reasonable volumes did not exist in the 1920’s.  In both Auckland and London, the HPA had brick-lined rooms in which to load the 60 pound tins of granulated honey.  The room was heated with kerosene heaters, which were not conducive to creating a good product if the wicks failed and filled the rooms with acrid smoke.  The introduction around 1930 of gas-fired hot water circulating through pipes made for a real advance.  It came about the time that a workable honey packing machine was introduced to replace the labour-intensive manual systems:

“The cost could probably be reduced by the use of boy and girl labour, but the directors preferred to utilise the services of men.”  (HONEY PRODUCERS.  Waikato Times, Vol 100, Issue 16818, 9 June 1926, Page 8)

Blending Honey

Blending larger volumes of differing honeys was something of an “art”, and did not always give a good end result.  One early method involved taking a small amount of honey from each of the tins to be included, and a “sample mix” was created, to give a better idea of what the resulting blend might be like.  With New Zealand’s use of a formalised grading system, the Imperial Bee honey packs were able to be blended entirely through reliance on the grade certificate, giving the HPA another advantage over the other honeys in the United Kingdom.

Developing Markets

The HPA quickly developed a reliable market for Imperial Bee honey, but post-WWI transport issues (no honey was transported in 1918 at all!) meant that the HPA and its agent had more honey in stock than it could readily sell, and the price received for honey dropped dramatically through the 1920’s.  Poor quality packs of honey – leaking and fermenting – through the war years saw the post war prices plummet from the high prices of the wartime years.

But the Imperial Bee honey pack became well-established at a premium price in the UK market, especially.  These packs had a certain consistency.  For one thing, it was all New Zealand honey, while a lot of other honeys were blended from Canadian, Jamaican and (later) American honeys, sometimes with little regard for any consistency and reliability for the consumer.  The Imperial Bee pack was blended to achieve a light amber to extra light amber colour.  This allowed for the use of some of the darker honeys which, on their own, might not be acceptable to the British (or even Kiwi) honey eaters.  Ironically, manuka honey was one of the honeys that were only ever described as ‘difficult’, both to handle and to sell.

One of the only objections to the colour and flavour of Imperial Bee honey came from the South Island, and especially from the West Coast beekeepers who claimed blending their white honey with Waikato’s darker and stronger flavoured honeys lowered the value of each.    

In the United Kingdom and most of Europe – as well as New Zealand itself – Imperial Bee sold at a premium price, in a range of tin sizes, as well as in glass containers.  In New Zealand, at least for parts of the South Island, Imperial Bee honey was also sold in “pats”.  These blocks of hard-granulated honey were only possible in the cooler regions of NZ, and generally only in the cooler months of the year, but the almost total lack of packaging costs – the one pound block of hard-granulated honey was simply wrapped in a piece of paper for sale – still made it somewhat attractive to both beekeeper and grocer.

HPA members were encouraged to use the Imperial Bee pack to solidify the reputation of the cooperative in the eyes of NZ consumers.  Imperial Bee honey was sold not only in the UK, but throughout much of Europe, and regularly achieved a (small) premium price as its consistent quality became known to consumers.  

“People have been told that our honey is the best of all the imported honey; that Imperial Bee Honey has reached the highest standard of quality.  Now, though it is a very excellent product, the acceptance of these statements is the result to a certain extent of mental suggestion.  There are other brands which unbiased people prefer, however defective the producers in New Zealand may consider their taste.  The comparatively high price of Imperial Bee is to a certain extent the result of bulk displays in stores, the attractive wrappers, the consistency of the quality, and the packing.”   (NEW ZEALAND HONEY. Otago Daily Times, Issue 20168, 4 August 1927, Page 13)

Changing the Logo

The only real issue with Imperial Bee honey packaging came from the use of the word “imperial” on the honey pack’s label.  The “Imperial bee” was a reference to Great Britain’s empire, but in 1927 the imagery on the honey pack was changed from a queen bee to “Imperial Bee, Esq. – the Bee Man”, who was to appear on the pack for many years afterward.  The early versions of Mr. Bee Man seem quite scary and spooky by today’s standards.  Though his appearance mellowed a bit through the years, it would be hard to imagine its use now.  Interestingly, there were (more appropriate) female figures, a proper “queen bee”.

Worldwide Sales, Advertising and Rhetoric

By 1926 Imperial Bee honey was being sold in the “United Kingdom, Irish Free State, Germany, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Greenland, Straits Settlements, Philippines, South Sea Islands, Iceland, Federated Malay States, Hongkong, Uruguay.”  Over 60% of the honey that was sent to the United Kingdom was blended and packed, the majority of it into the Imperial Bee honey brand.

Imperial Bee honey sold particularly well in the Scandinavian countries, with Denmark and Sweden showing particular appreciation for the pack.  It was even exported from the UK to India.  A packing plant was set up in Germany to facilitate sales when it was realised how well it could sell there.

The sales of retail containers of Imperial Bee honey was accompanied by extensive advertising.  Imperial Bee honey was variously described as pure, delicate, golden, aids digestion, choicest, world’s best, high vitamin content, palatable, with body-building properties, natural – the list went on and on for both health-giving and curative of Imperial Bee honey…  It was claimed to be of use in the “treatment of tuberculosis and tuberculously disposed cases”.

The claim that it was “the best on the market” resulted in a court case In Germany against the agents of Imperial Bee honey, with claims that the statement was untrue.  Three judges looked at the Imperial Bee honey world sales – and concluded that it was the best on the market!

Throughout the 1920’s the advertising, even just small advertisements, were constantly promoting Imperial Bee honey.

“Eat Thou Honey because it is Good (Soloman). Eat Thou Imperial Bee Honey because it is the best (modern).”

“Food Specialists condemn cane sugar, users praise Imperial Bee Honey.”

“Eat a little Imperial Bee Honey every day, and get the vitamins which prevent disease.”

Another advertising technique involved providing a coupon with each tin of Imperial Bee honey.  When the consumer collected enough coupons, they could get a stuffed toy, an image of the “Bee Man” himself…

Displays and Promotions

Imperial Bee honey was regularly a part of trade exhibitions and food fairs.  It was touted as having won medals at the London Dairy Shows in 1920 and 1921, the 1925 British Empire Exhibition, the Empire Exhibition at Wembely in 1925-1926 and the New Zealand South Seas Exhibition in Dunedin in 1925-1926.

The New Zealand High Commissioner’s building on the Strand in London regularly had displays of Imperial Bee honey, and once included a life-sized mechanical model of the “Bee Man”.  The robot-like creature would lift small placards extolling the values of honey – and then roll his eyes.  It may not have been as bad as it sounds.

The Demise of the Honey Producers’ Association

The last few years of the 1920’s did not play out well for the HPA and Imperial Bee honey.  Two exceptionally large crops, followed by a near total failure of the honey crop, drove the Honey Producers Assn. into liquidation.  One of the only assets was the goodwill that the Imperial Bee honey pack had developed, and the label seemed destined to be taken over by A.J. Mills, the agents who had advanced moneys to NZ beekeepers.

Jack Butland was chairman of the Honey Export Control Board, and a figure with many contacts into the upper reaches of the NZ Government.  He promoted the export of processed cheeses – in later years marketed as Chesdale cheese!  In 1933 Butland convinced the Government to loan the Control Board £6,000, the money needed to retain the Imperial Bee brand.  Inexplicably, the money came from the Unemployment Board, and was then loaned to the NZ Honey Company, which had taken over the export role from the HPA.

And Then the Demise of New Zealand Honey Company, Ltd.

The Honey Export Control board and NZ Honey Company continued sales of Imperial Bee honey through the difficult economy of the early 1930’s, but two small crops in 1934/35 and 1935/36 made their position untenable.  Jack Butland and the Honey Export Control Board faced most of the criticism.  W.B. “Billy” Bray and others complained loudly that the Board had acted illegally in buying some Australian honey to fill an order for industrial honey.

Butland carefully dodged the issue, saying that none of the Australian honey had been blended into the Imperial Bee pack, and never would be.  That was not addressing the real issue, that the Board was, basically, buying and selling honey on the world market, though it had only ever been set up to manage the export of New Zealand honey.

If the full truth was known at the time, it would have been a lot louder criticism.  Butland, along with Percy Hillary (South Auckland) and Walter Watson (Geraldine) had even more ambitious plans to address the honey shortfall.  The Board proposed removing the “product of New Zealand” part of the Imperial Bee honey label – and then buy other honeys from “the Empire” to blend with New Zealand honey to make Imperial Bee honey!  Canada, for instance, had white honey for sale, and the Board seemed to feel that the continuity of sales would be the lesser of two evils.

The Honey Export Control Board – all three members – resigned dramatically in early 1936, still claiming that the decision to purchase the Australian honey had been the right one.  The failure of NZ Honey Company followed soon after, with the Internal Marketing Division (IMD) taking over responsibility for the marketing of honey.

Later Years

Imperial Bee honey continued to be sold through the 1940’s and 1950’s, but the IMD also used the Honeyco brand that NZ Honey Company had introduced, with distinctive red, blue and green labels to distinguish the colour range.  Imperial Bee honey continued to sell well in the local market.  The Honey Marketing Authority (HMA), which took over from the IMD in 1954 continued the sales for another 20 years.

In 1968 the HMA bought out several honey packing operations, including that of R.L. “Dick” Holland (Pleasant Point).  Though Imperial Bee honey still had some sales, the Holland’s Honey pack with its light colour and delicate flavour replaced Imperial Bee honey in the early 1970s.

Imperial Bee honey was sold for over 50 years, in New Zealand and many other parts of the world.  It was considered a “pre-eminent” honey, providing consistency in colour, flavour and condition, starting from a time when none of those were available to the honey consumer.