On a private farm on the Far South Coast of New South Wales, Sue Roseman brings together pasture, bushland and ocean in every jar of Bermagooey honey.
Drive one hour from Moruya to the vibrant seaside town of Bermagui, and you’ll discover a coastal estate surrounded by native forest, dramatic coastal headlands and sheltered bushland. This is the home of Bermagooey – a farm producing single-estate honey taken from 100 per cent natural honeycomb and cold-pressed, without heat treatment or pasteurisation.
At its helm is Sue Roseman, who works with her husband David on a mission to capture a sense of place in their products, rather than creating another generic honey.
“Bermagooey began with a fascination for bees and the remarkable way they translate landscape into honey,” Sue explains. “We wanted to create something that truly represents where it comes from – the plants, the seasons and the coastal environment surrounding the hives.”
If honey could talk
Honey is one of the most region-specific foods in the world. Bees collect nectar from the plants available in the surrounding landscape, and this shapes the colour, texture, aroma and flavour of the final product.
However, most commercial honey brands blend their final product with ingredients from multiple sources to standardise the flavour, and heat it to make it easier to filter and bottle. What results is a uniform product with a milder flavour, removed of the individuality that comes with place.
According to Sue, this is the antithesis of the mission at Bermagooey.
“With single-estate honey, we choose not to standardise the honey; rather, we allow each harvest to reflect the landscape and season it comes from. This natural variation is part of what gives honey its character. Something like a wine vintage,” she says.
“The Far South Coast provides an incredibly diverse environment for bees. Within a small radius of the hive, the pasture, coastal heath and native bushland all feature different flowering plants producing nectar throughout the year.”
Combined with factors including coastal weather patterns, rainfall and temperature, all of which influence how much nectar a flower can produce and how concentrated that nectar is, the single-origin approach results in a honey reflective of the environment and season.
“You can often taste much more of the landscape in the honey – subtle floral notes, deeper caramel tones or delicate herbal flavours depending on what the bees have been visiting,” explains Sue. “The result is a honey with far more character, and one that naturally changes from season to season.”
Landscapes in a jar
Working on a small scale is central to the Bermagooey approach. It means working closely with the bees and the environment, and adapting to unpredictable coastal conditions such as rain and wind which can influence flowering and nectar flow. Production can be less predictable than it is for commercial honey companies, but Sue believes this is part of the fun.
“Each season is different, so each harvest reflects the natural rhythms of the landscape,” Sue explains.
“Along our coast we have native heath, as well as tea tree and other wildflowers that produce bright, aromatic nectars. Bushland also contributes a wide range of native flowering plants that can add deeper, more complex flavours, while pasture areas introduce seasonal flowering plants that can soften or round out the profile.
“Because these environments exist close together, the bees move between them throughout the season. The result is a honey that reflects the diversity of the surrounding landscape rather than a single plant source. It is a layered flavour profile shaped by coast, bush and pasture working together.”
The bees forage across the coastal bushland and pasture, on a landscape shared with native flora, local wildlife, and small herds of Scottish Highland cows and Dorper sheep.
This means that every jar of Bermagooey honey tastes slightly different and captures a particular moment in the flowering cycle. Sue loves hosting tastings, and people are always surprised by the difference in colour, aroma, texture and flavour that is noticeable when comparing harvests.
Pollination of place
Working with bees has given Sue a greater appreciation for the coastal landscape, making her more aware of flowering cycles and seasonal changes.
“What once looked to us like ordinary bushland or pasture becomes an incredibly complex ecosystem supporting pollinators, and any additional planting we do always takes the bees’ preferences and wellbeing into consideration,” she says.
Sue is also more aware of how closely food production is linked to healthy environments.
“In many ways, the bees become guides to the rhythms of the landscape,” she adds.
By producing small-batch, single-estate honey, every jar embodies the character of the region. Dry seasons concentrate the nectar for more intense flavour, while wet conditions result in lighter styles, but the mission remains the same no matter the environment.
“By producing small-batch, single-estate honey, our aim is to create something that carries the identity of the region,” Sue says. “We want to give visitors something they can taste, and by doing so, connect with the place it comes from. If they enjoy it, they can take a little bit of Bermagui home in a jar.”
To read about how Jennie Tylee-Porter, owner of Dapper Dreamwear, makes Merino wool blankets and hats for Aussie babies in Dubbo, click here.
Rex flies to Moruya, which is one hour from Bermagooey. Head to the Rex website or check out the route map below for more details.
