Queen Bee

SHE STARTED WITH A SINGLE HIVE IN THE BACK PADDOCK. NOW BEESONLINE’S MAUREEN MAXWELL REIGNS OVER NEW ZEALAND’S HONEY EMPIRE.

Words by Lyn Barnes  Photographs by Aaron McLean

MAUREEN MAXWELL (ABOVE) DESCRIBES HERSELF as the Kiwi woman who has made honey sexy. She’s changed its perception from a nana product into liquid gold and now is knocking the socks off overseas buyers with her mono-floral honeys. And every week more and more culinary tourists flock like bees to a honey pot to her impressive factory and café near Kumeu, 30 minutes north-west of Auckland city.

Maureen started out studying architecture and industrial design at Auckland University while working at wineries in west Auckland, close to where she grew up. Back then it was farmland and she thrived on the rural life, just as she does today. She drives a “two-door sports” Land Rover but keeps a pair of high heels on the back seat, just in case. There’s a quad bike in her garage (the motor bike was stolen last year) and she couldn’t cope without a few sheep grazing around her property. In her spare time Maureen loves flying helicopters and pig hunting – in fact anything that gets her out into the environment. Last year she completed 90km of off-road riding on a mountain bike around Lake Tekapo.

Maureen loves living on the edge. “It’s my comfort zone,” says the former hang-glider enthusiast. “Life is a continuous journey; I like to extend myself every day, mentally or physically. I have only so many hours – I sleep for four hours and have to get up and make notes. I enjoy whatever challenge comes along.” She has an HT licence, a gun licence and a fishing licence. “I’m a country woman; I have to be able to do everything.” Being “virtually dyslexic” has not held her back. “I struggle putting pen to paper,” she says. But that won’t stop her producing another honey cookbook this year.

In her late teens, Maureen teamed up with brother Ian Margan and Bill and Ross Spence to develop Matua Valley Wines. They bravely planted the first sauvignon blanc and pinot noir vines in New Zealand back in 1974. That began her foray into the world of wine.

She has always been a keen cook – winning her first cooking competition at 16 – and a fast learner. Maureen and her husband returned to New Zealand from their OE in the late 1970s to open The Hunting Lodge restaurant, adjoining Matua Valley Wines. “People thought we were nuts!” she says. She used her architectural knowledge to restore the old building but instead of working front-of-house as planned she was back in the kitchen, right up until the time her daughter was born. Rachel is now 23 and son Ryan almost 21.

Maureen’s “second life” kicked in when her marriage ended.  BeesOnline grew from one hobby hive in the back paddock. From the moment she sampled that fresh, pure honey from her own hive there was no going back. “It was one of those ah-ha moments.” So Maureen started studying and cooking. She soon discovered that bees that collected rewarewa and thyme nectar produced dark honeys that were like “dry red wines … they were fabulous with savoury food – meat, fish and vegetables”. She also found the creamier honeys such as tawari and rata were more floral, sweet and heady and worked well in desserts and baking. Because her taste buds were so attuned to wine varietals, Maureen soon detected regional differences in honeys as well; manuka from the Far North was different from that produced in the South Island.

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