The Lives of Tasmanian Apiarists

The farm is incredibly busy this time of year, with bee boxes and hives constantly being loaded and unloaded on the back of utes, to spinning endless full and heavy frames in what feels like never long enough days.

This Summer in particular has been hot and dry and a little more so than usual, making the set 25 degrees of the honey kitchen far more undesirable than if it was the middle of winter. Let’s say a lot of heart and sweat gets poured into every season.

Having 200 hives and maintaining each one takes an awful lot of patience, consistency, and knowledge. The learning curves that come with this craft are never-ending. The outcome of a season is never guaranteed either with changing forecasts and unforeseen circumstances it is always a cross of the fingers that we get what we hoped for, full hives and happy bees.

Varieties come in and out of stock every year due to the nature of a plant. Certain flowers may not bloom for long enough, and some come unexpectedly earlier or later, keeping you on your toes and half awake and night wondering whether or not you should have put your hives out so soon or sooner.

Not to mention the endless beestings to the back of the hand, or worse, the palm when grabbing something a little too eagerly that often swell up and hurt for a couple of days if they hit a real tender spot. You adjust to the sensation but never welcome the feeling.

Days can incur hours of traveling in the dark of the morning to a site with no reception down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, and you can only hope you remember to pack a sandwich for the road the night before or the day will feel like the longest alive.

We are so grateful to do what we do. To work as a tight-knit team, to come together and take off in different directions so the cogs of Anroc Apiaries can keep on turning.

We love what we do, and we hope that you do too.

Delilah McGill
Newsletter Editor