Buzz of a new bee-ginning
Queen bee keeper keen to see greater diversity
MORE diversity among the people pulling on the bee suits.
That’s the end goal for the 2019 Queensland AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award winner, and national finalist, Natasha Roebig.
Demand for natural products is drawing a “fresh wave” of bee keepers to agriculture and Natasha is keen to see more support for the newcomers.
When starting her first hive about seven years ago, the Jimboomba mum found seeking the right information and resources a challenge. She learned the hard way. However, she is determined to make the path to bee keeping easy, and accessible, for people from all walks of life.
Her daughter Miranda is the reason Natasha, and her husband Jason, embarked on their new ‘bee-ginning’.
“My daughter was born with eczema,” she said.
“With the advice of our doctors and our naturopath we decided to research the
health benefits of raw honey and beeswax.
“We were using steroid creams on her, and at times we still need to, but we were finding the steroid cream was having an adverse effect; so her hair was falling out and her skin was thinning, it was really irritating her skin.
“We decided to incorporate natural products in between the bouts of steroids, so we bought our first bee hive.”
After that, the Roebigs made a balm, then created a business, Bee All Natural, and are happy to report little Miranda is doing great.
With her Queensland AgriFutures award in the bag, Natasha’s focus is now on rolling out education programs.
“I will be using my Westpac bursary to partner with the Australian Technology and Agricultural College campus, who provide vocational and educational pathways for tertiary students from Years 10–12,” she said.
“We will have access to the college’s state-of-the-art classroom facilities, which we can use to facilitate our education and mentoring program.
“The program is for people of all ages and backgrounds, and we plan to develop classes for women, children and those who live with physical disabilities, including a program for those living with PTSD,” she said.
Back when Natasha first started out she learned the ropes by reading The Bee Book, Googling information and joining her local bee-keeping clubs.
“The clubs are normally full of older gentlemen,” she said.
“I felt a little intimidated walking in, I felt out of place... what I want to create is an inclusive environment.
“Our motto is there are no barriers to bee keeping.
“I would love to see more women in bee keeping. When you think of a bee keeper it’s normally a man on a farm, with his smoker.”
The Roebig family practice what they preach, often all donning the bee suites to work on their hives as a team.