TO produce the best honey, bees need a clean, pollution-free environment, says Garry Rodgers.
The multi-award winning Newrybar-based beekeeper says he’d never place a hive near a farm that used pesticides, anywhere close to a phone tower (which he believes interferes with the bees natural honing ability) or in a built up area.
“These poor buggers setting up beehives on top of buildings in the city. They do get honey– but ever heard of carbon monoxide?” Garry said.
“It’s just not the pristine area we have here on the north coast. We’re very lucky. It’s very clean, pollution free. And that’s the main thing.”
Garry’s honey comes from a collection of hives concentrated mostly on the coast between Tyagarah and Maclean. With access to such a diverse range of flowering plants, his bees produce an amazing variety of honeys, from the dark and richly flavoured tea tree to the medicinal, anti-bacterial and wound healing active Jellybush – Australia’s equivalent to Manuka honey.
All of the honey that makes it to Garry’s farmer’s market stall, The Honey Wagon, is classified as raw, which means it has not been heated during processing and retains all of its health properties.
“Lots of beekeepers use heat to soften up the honey and make the process quicker, “ Garry explained.
“The bigger manufacturers do that. It makes the honey thinner, so they can process it quicker, bottle it quicker – it’s just easier for them. But it kills the good properties of the honey. If you heat honey over 40 degrees most of the good enzymes get wrecked. “
As well as pure honey, Garry also produces honey products such as beeswax, honey straws, bee pollen and his popular creamed honey, which has been aerated and whipped to a spreadable, butter-like consistency.
Garry says he and wife Jenny went through a tough time late last year when a fire destroyed their packing and processing shed, but the support of their customers and the positive feedback they receive at the markets has helped them get through.
“A lot of people come back and just tell me they love the honey, that it’s so lovely they won’t go back to anything else, “ said Garry.
“It’s great feedback…I love it. It’s excellent because that’s the whole idea of our business – we want to make good honey.”
