THE BEE’S KNEES
AN ENCOUNTER WITH A SWARM OF BEES TURNED TASMANIANS ROBIN AND ANTONIA O’BRIEN’S LIVES UPSIDE DOWN – IN THE SWEETEST WAY.
THE SWEET LIQUID SUNSHINE produced by Tasmania’s Wellington Apiary has a storied beginning. Co-owner Robin O’brien had been feeling restless in his nursing job back in 2009, when he had a conversation with a cherry orchard owner about the lack of active commercial hives on the Apple Isle. Robin was jogging up Mt Wellington in Hobart a short time later when he came across a mass of bees the size of a basketball and took this as a sign he should build his own hive. Risking life and limb, he cut the branch – bees and all – from the tree and used the creatures to start an apiary.
Robin and his wife, Antonia, soon had a small collection of hives that they kept on Antonia’s parents’ property in central Hobart. The hives lived on the tennis court and their inhabitants collected nectar from the gardens around the heart of the city. Eleven years later, Robin and Antonia are part of a network of beekeepers, who work together to access pollen from all over Tasmania to create pure, luxurious honeys. The O’briens’ varieties include Leatherwood, Meander Valley Clover and Prickly Box.
“We move the hives around for the pollen sources,” explains Antonia. “Our Leatherwood will come from the leatherwood trees that grow only on the west coast of Tasmania, our Clover will only come from the north of Tasmania, our Wildflower comes from around Mt Wellington in Hobart, while our Prickly Box will be from the Coal River Valley.”
On a good week, during the summer, one hive can produce up to 10kg of golden honey.
The O’briens collaborate with smaller keepers across the state, who help them move their hives to different areas so they can access a range of pollen sources. A single hive will, therefore, be used to produce leatherwood honey, wildflower honey and fennel honey.
The honey from one source will be extracted, and then the bees and the hive will be relocated overnight. “You can only move hives at night when the bees are tucked up in bed,” says Antonia. “If you move them during the day, they’re out foraging. Once they’ve gotten into bed, we close them up and move them.” And, adds Robin, once the bees are allowed out in their new environment, they’ll start collecting pollen and building honeycomb straight away. “They do a couple of flights around the hive, get their bearings and away they go,” he says.
It’s strange to think of bees as livestock, like cattle or sheep, but the same principles apply, Robin explains. “A little care, and they’ll be more productive,” he says.
Robin and Antonia have honed their skills over the years. “Some flowering plants in Australia, like blue gums for example, are just so unpredictable,” says Robin. “What we do is not an exact science – there’s a bit of feel and art to it.”
For more information about Wellington Apiary, visit wellingtonapiary.com or email sales@wellingtonapiary.com
“SOME FLOWERING PLANTS IN AUSTRALIA, LIKE BLUE GUMS FOR EXAMPLE, ARE JUST SO UNPREDICTABLE. WHAT WE DO IS NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE – THERE’S A BIT OF FEEL AND ART TO IT.”