Skip to content

Call Us: 0437 077 792

Servicing all of Victoria, Australia

Menu

Home
ONLINE STORE
Royal Jelly
Bee Hives For Sale
Bee & Swarm Removal
European Wasp Removal
Beehive Pollination
Honey For Sale
Wax For Sale
Host A Hive
Podcasts
School Education
Bee Resources
- Keeping Bees
- Beekeeping Mentoring
Blog
Contact
Pest Control
Public Speaking

Bee Keeping Tools

Showing all 10 results

Assembled, Wired and Waxed Bee Frames
$10.00 Add to cart
Steel Emlock With Strapping
$15.00 Add to cart
Australian Style Steel Hive Tool – (The J Tool)
$20.00 Add to cart
Wax Dipping Bee Box Service
$20.00 Read more
Queen Bee Stamp
$39.00 Add to cart
Benny’s Bee Fondant (bee food) 7kg
$49.95 Add to cart
Benny’s Bee Fondant (bee food) 15kg
$80.00 Add to cart
Beekeeping Smoker – Med Size
$95.00 Add to cart
Hand Crafted Bee Pen
$119.95 Add to cart
Wax Melter & Cappings Reducer 7L
$440.00 Read more

Blog

The Cold Imposter, Bombus hyperboreus
Life in the Fast Lane; Bombus polaris
‘Fly bees’ and ‘Forest Honey’
Gynandromorphism and the Motherless Bee
The Honey Bee in Australia
The Honey Bee in Australia, A Bicentennial Looms
Myth-busting bees!
Do Bees Sleep?
Bees In Space
Monofloral Honeys Part 6: the Remarkable Rata.

Contact us:

Email: [email protected]

Call Us: 0437 077 792

Ben's Bees

4 hours ago

In the Bees with Ben podcast episode 79, Ben chats with Jay Curtin, the CEO of Australian Honey Ventures, based in Western Australia. The AHV website describes the business as ‘a 100% Australian privately owned aggregator of Australian honey with impressive honey inventory levels capable of supplying packaged honey products to export markets’. Through ‘collaborative relationships with beekeepers and distributors, and product innovation in the medicinal, endurance racing and well-being markets’ AHV claims that it is well on the way towards a target of brokering at least one third of Australia’s total commercial honey production by 2027. And by investing in product development and marketing, AHV aims to lift the value of Australian honey and return higher prices to beekeepers. Wow!Jay also highlights the predicament of beekeepers as being similar to that of dairy farmers; traditionally, apiarists have not been getting a fair price for their honey in an industry controlled by a few large players that was rife with price-setting. Jay remembers hearing of jarrah honey from WA selling for $500 per kilogram overseas at a time when local producers were receiving a mere $12 per kilogram. She says she hates seeing Aussies being rorted; AHV’s business model is to identify exciting and lucrative sales opportunities overseas, and then pay beekeepers a high upfront price for their honey. In addition, beekeepers also receive a quarterly profit share, and using AHV’s deal with Kuwait as an example, this means that local apiarists can expect a return of about $33 per kilogram for TA35+ honey, as opposed to $4.80 per kilogram from the major local packer.Jay can’t understand why jarrah honey has previously been touted as the ‘be all and end all’. She says we need to market ourselves as a powerhouse of medicinal honey, with a whole range of attractive varieties, each with its own unique flavour. She says many people in the Middle East don’t actually like the taste of manuka honey but eat it anyway as it is a luxury item with medicinal properties! Manuka has, however, paved the way for export opportunities for Australian honey as it has desensitised overseas markets to high prices commanded by medicinal honey.Australian Honey Ventures is currently engaged in a drive to raise new capital. The company has earmarked $1 million for marketing in the next twelve months and is in the process of building a state-of-the-art processing plant. They are also negotiating with Woolworths to supply the domestic market and are intent on devising new science to accurately measure the medicinal properties of Australian honey. Presently the top rating for medicinal honey is TA35+; some Australian honeys have raw test results up to TA66 but are unable to be labelled as such because this is beyond the scope of the current procedures, and Jay is convinced we are missing an opportunity in this regard.Jay is also excited about AHV’s new brand ambassador, prominent TV personality and former professional rugby player, Nick ‘The Honey Badger’ Cummins. His nickname is a fortunate coincidence since it has nothing to do with his love of honey. Jay explains that although Nick may have lacked size and speed in comparison to other players, he made up for any other shortcomings with a ferocious on-field nature. Likewise, the honey badger will take on far larger creatures thanks to its tenacious character and an iron jaw! Nick lives ‘off the grid’ in the midst of a national park; he uses solar power and grows much of his own food. He has declared his association with AHV to be a ‘match made in heaven’ and has actually bought shares in the company.podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/bees-with-ben/id1512755530?i=1000549117991australianhoneyventures.com.au/ ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook

· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Ben's Bees

6 days ago

PODCAST EPISODE 78 of the Bees with Ben podcast features Kevin Tracy, the queen bee guru from Queensland’s Gold Coast. Originally from Chicago, Kevin says he’s more Australian than Australia, but he still hasn’t managed to lose the tell-tale accent (he claims it is 100% Queenslander!).Kevin is the owner and manager of BeeZone Apiaries Queen Bees and Training, and besides producing queens, honey and delivering pollination services, he also offers comprehensive training for apiarists, and in this capacity has educated beekeepers across the country. He is a member of beekeeping associations in four states, as well as being actively involved in the Australian Biosecurity Bee Emergency Response Team (BERT) and the Australian Queen Bee Breeders Association, and assisted in the South Australian Government’s Bushfire Recovery programme and with the ‘Outback Academy’, an indigenous not-for-profit organisation. Kevin is also in demand as a guest speaker, and has a very entertaining style, as you will no doubt discover.Kevin says he initially purchased a couple of hives as he thought bees were cool and fitted in with his permaculture lifestyle, but admits to knowing nothing about them at the time - a big mistake in retrospect, since he was stung so severely that he was comatose for three days. Eventually he returned to beekeeping and became focussed upon the production of queens. He says there is a certain magic or mythology that surrounds the creation of queens, but that in reality it is actually quite simple. Kevin says he is convinced that everyone should produce their own queens and is committed to teaching apiarists how to achieve this. He’s on a mission and will travel anywhere to fulfil this objective.When asked to describe the perfect queen, he unhesitatingly replied, ‘Elizabeth!’ Seriously, Kevin says a good queen is the one that does what you need for your colony - colour or appearance is of no significance. Interestingly, he says the hardest part of creating queens is the timetable.We also talked about pests and diseases, and the challenges of keeping bees in south-east Queensland. Kevin provided a fascinating insight into his selection process for queens, whilst reiterating that he is a big fan of ‘local vigour’. The controversy surrounding feeding bees was covered in some detail, and Kevin revealed his pet hate - the Dunning-Kruger effect. This may be defined as a ‘cognitive bias in which people overestimate their knowledge of ability in a specific domain’. Unfortunately, according to Kevin, it is prevalent in some bee groups!Kevin is incredibly knowledgeable and quite a character. Do queen bees have crowns? And why, given the choice of any historical figure, would Kevin choose to share a coffee with Joan of Arc? You will have to listen to the podcast to find out more!www.facebook.com/beezoneapiariespodcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/bees-with-ben/id1512755530?i=1000548529418 ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook

· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email