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Alarm bells are ringing in Australia’s honey industry following discovery of a varroa mite in a beehive at Gumble in the central west of NSW.

Gumble is at least 100 kilometres west from the epi-centre and main locus of Australia’s varroa infestation in and around Newcastle and on the central coast of NSW.

So the spread of varroa mite to Gumble, after more than a year of enormous effort by authorities and beekeepers to contain and eradicate the infestation, is deeply concerning.

There has now been a total of 190 separate varroa infestations confirmed since the outbreak was first discovered outside the Port of Newcastle in April last year.

Crowd-sourced funding (CSF) is a relatively high-risk way of investing for investors.

But it also gives investors the opportunity to buy shares in businesses and areas which have not previously been readily accessible, like honey businesses.

Two good examples in recent years are Australian Honey Ventures and APIA Honey.

We’ve now got fantastic Jarrah honey available in store, and it is very special indeed, with unique natural qualities that make it very useful in a medical or health context.

Particularly when it is fresh, Jarrah honey often has very high levels of naturally occurring hydrogen peroxide.

Many Australians will know of this chemical as the main component of the bleach that surfers use to whiten their hair so as to get that much coveted, regular beach-goer look.

But in Jarrah honey these high levels of hydrogen peroxide are important because, like Manuka honey, it can kill certain microbes and bacteria.

Jarrah honey appears to be better than Manuka honey however, at treating fungal infections like tinea. It is also good at treating other skin infections and is even being touted as a treatment for complaints such as thrush.

Perth based start-up, Australian Honey Ventures, has raised as much as $3million from its crowd-sourced funding campaigns.

With only days to go at the time of writing, the second round of the company’s crowd-sourced funding campaign appears to have sold more than $2million in shares.

That comes on top of a reported $700,000 raised in an initial crowd-raising campaign concluded in July last year.

The funds have come from an estimated 1500 people investing in the company’s share offer.

Enthusiasm for the company’s campaign has been boosted by celebrity endorsement from high-profile rugby player, Nick Cummins. Colloquially known as the ‘Honey Badger’, Cummins has reportedly invested in the company as well as appearing in its marketing materials.

Leading UK honey business – Rowse – has reportedly instructed its lawyers to oppose New Zealand’s attempt to trademark manuka honey. UK trademark authorities initially agreed to the NZ trademark claim back in 2017. However other countries, including the US, China and Australia all knocked back the request. The UK decision was also quickly appealed by Australia's Manuka Honey Association and so has never been finalised. More recently, New Zealand has renewed its push for a global monopoly, starting with an attempt to get local authorities to grant the trademark within NZ. [The move is largely legal manoeuvring, and unlike...