Honey made from Australian native species best represents the iconic Australian character – we make honeys that are bold and diverse in flavour, which is certainly a reflection of the varied natural landscapes that are available to produce unique honey. In fact, Australia has some of the most wide ranging floral resources available for honey production (mellifera) compared to other beekeeping locations (Leech, 2012). With that vast amount of floral resources comes a diversity of plant natural compounds unique to Australian and Australasian vegetation, and bees are selectively concentrating some of those plant based substances into honey stores. In scientific jargon, unique plant chemical structures are called ‘secondary metabolites’, meaning they are made by the plant or a symbiotic organism but are not involved in the basic nutrition of the individual plant itself. Plant secondary metabolites usually play a more complex role in a plants life cycle, either enhancing reproduction, providing chemical protection, acting as a defence against being eaten, or even to withstand harsh changes in the environment (Bourgaud et al., 2001). 

Interestingly, plant secondary metabolites are the source or original inspi