The honey committee continues to work on behalf of the ANBA and native bee honey producers. Last year, the committee contributed to the association in three activity areas.

1. Collaboration with researchers
a. Collaborate with James Hereward, University of Queensland, regarding phorid fly. Phorid fly are a major pest of stingless bees and are strongly attracted to spilled honey, severely limiting the potential to harvest honey.
b. Collaboration with Kenya Fernandes et al., University of Sydney, Strong antimicrobial activity and unique physicochemical characteristics in honey from Australian stingless bees (Tetragonula and Austroplebeia).
c. Presented on the ANBA experience with creating a food standard, at the International Symposium Stingless Bees, Naga City, Philippines, June 2025.

2. Monitor and provide advice to Native BeeHoney producers
a. The committee monitors the online activities of native bee honey producers. We monitor label content, label claims, and claims of medicinal and healing activity of native bee honey. There are Food Standards Australia New Zealand laws relating to truth of labelling and truth of advertising. Additionally, there are Therapeutics Goods Administration laws regarding medicinal claims on food products.
b. The committee has reached out to two honey producers, providing coaching and advice regarding claims, and how to rephrase wording.The committee believes this protects the mentioned honey producers from fines and penalties, protects the interests of consumers, and protects the reputation of Native Bee Honey producers.

3. Obtain quotes for Native Bee Honey quality tests
The committee reached out to laboratories across eastern Australia to determine who could test Native Bee Honey. The committee explained the rarity of the product, and the requirement for small sample sizes. The committee proposes that the ANBA could act as the customer (subject to the approval of the National management committee). With a single customer, this would cut down on multiple registration and administration fees, thus providing an advantage to honey producers. A secondary advantage is that the ANBA could send in bulk samples from a number of producers, which could be more efficient for the testing laboratories.

The following two tables are from the email that I sent to testing laboratories. The tests are based on:
• FSANZ standard 2.8.3 Native Bee Honey
• Honey test criteria from the international CODEX
• General microbiology tests (supporting FSANZ general chapters)
• Tests based on the “Claimed advantages” of stingless bee honey, such as antioxidant and flavonoid content.