19 products, five makers and four towns

Honey

For Margaret River honey, start with jarrah. The tree grows only in the South West, and its honey is about as local as a jar gets. The beekeepers in this guide, Foragers Honey, are a family business a little further inland, at Barrabup near Nannup. They say jarrah flowers only every two to three years. Their hives stay at permanent sites across the South West rather than moving about to follow the flowering.

That means the honey follows the forest. Jarrah is golden and slow to set, so it stays runny in the jar for longer. Marri, from the other big forest tree, is an autumn honey. Wildflower is the all-purpose jar, and Creamed is the one that stays on the knife. All of it is raw: spun in a centrifuge, then gravity strained rather than heavily filtered.

For a cheese board, Truffle Hill at Manjimup sells a honey infused with black truffle: sweet first, then savoury. If you're buying a present, our South West gift guide picks the jarrah for anyone who misses the region.

See the honey makers on the mapQuestions

On the shelf

No prices here, because we don't sell these. Tap a label for the story, or Visit to go straight to the maker's own shop.

Where to buy honey

Each maker's page tells their story and links straight to their own shop.

Visit in person 2 makers

Shops, tasting rooms, farm gates and market stalls. Days change, so check the maker's own site before you go.

Manjimup

  • Truffle Hill

    Tasting roomPantry

    A black truffle estate planted at Manjimup in 1997, with a pantry range that carries its truffle into oil, honey, mustard and sea salt.

Pemberton

  • Pemberton Honey Co

    Farm gateHoney, Soap

    Mikey and Allexa Cernotta's honey farm just outside Pemberton, packing single-flower WA honeys such as karri, wandoo and hakea, plus honey soap.

    Watch it made: Farm tours by appointment with the maker.

Online only 3 makers

No shop, stall or farm gate of their own that we can confirm. Order from their site; some also sell through local shops.

Free: the South West Maker Map 42 makers in 14 towns, Bunbury to Pemberton. Keep it on your phone.

In the journal

Day trips and gift runs that call in on the honey makers.

All guides

Questions

Where can I buy local honey near Margaret River?

Near Margaret River, Icon Honey has a tasting gallery at Happs Pottery in Anniebrook, between Busselton and Margaret River, and sells single-origin Western Australian honeys such as jarrah and karri from its own site. Further afield, Foragers Honey of Barrabup, near Nannup, sells online, and Pemberton Honey Co has a self-serve stall at its packing shed near Pemberton.

Check hours on the makers' sites before you go.

Coming from Busselton or Dunsborough, Icon Honey is the nearest of the three. Foragers, a family beekeeper, sells its jarrah, marri, wildflower and creamed honey on its website, and doesn't publish visiting details, so start with its site rather than the car. Pemberton Honey Co also delivers Australia-wide, and runs tastings and shed tours by appointment.

Where can I buy Pemberton Honey Co honey in Perth?

Pemberton Honey Co lists where it's sold on its own site, so that's the place to find a shop near you in Perth or anywhere else. If there isn't one close by, the farm delivers Australia-wide from its online shop, and it sells a tasting pack of three small jars.

Stock changes, so check the maker's list before you make a special trip.

The honey comes from Whispering Woods, the farm Mikey and Allexa Cernotta set up in 2015 just outside Pemberton. It's extracted and packed on the farm, and most jars are single-flower: karri, wandoo, marri, jarrah, hakea and more.

What does jarrah honey taste like?

It's a golden honey from one floral source, jarrah blossom, and it's slow to set, so it stays runny in the jar for longer. Because Foragers' hives stay put, the flavour shifts a little from year to year with what the forest does.

What's the difference between jarrah and marri honey?

They come from the two big forest trees of the South West. Jarrah is golden and slow to set, and marri is an autumn honey from the Margaret River region. A jar of each side by side is the easiest way to taste how much one tree changes a honey.