By Lorraine Clarke

WESTBURY’S DAVID Gibson of West-Bee Honey is a plumber with a difference. Four days a week he is on the tools, but the other three days, or more in the busiest season, he works his 280 beehives.

‘It’s a passion,’ said David. ‘It used to be a hobby with 20 hives, but when you get stung by the bug, it all happens.’

Honey production involves much more than just letting the bees do what comes naturally.

In the springtime, David must constantly check the hives to ensure that new queens are mated and laying, that workers have enough stores to feed the rapidly expanding population, and to pre-empt swarming. He must transport hives to the many bush and mountain sites when trees are flowering.

David breeds his own queens, including the striking Queensland ‘Red Kelpie’ breed. This entails grafting tiny eggs into plastic queen cell cups. Dozens of these are replaced in hives where the young larvae are fed a special diet of royal jelly that ensures they develop into queen bees rather than just workers.

Each new queen must be first transferred with her entourage of attendants into a tiny nucleus hive, from where she will make her first flight and mate with up to 50 drones in a once in a lifetime experience, before settling down to lay up to 2,000 eggs per day for the next two years of her life

This year’s cold spring, following last year’s bushfires which destroyed so many Leatherwood stands, has been a testing time for bees and bee-keepers.

2018 was one of the worst seasons in 50 years,’ said David.

Much of Tasmania’s honey production depends on unique species such as Leatherwood. David also uses his bees for commercial crop pollination. Much of Tasmania’s food production also depends on successful pollination by honeybees.

David relocates his hives around the Meander Valley to pollinate cherries and blueberries, and also seed crops of clover, chicory and buckwheat.

Wendy Gibson is allergic to bee stings, and inspects David closely for tiny passengers, from inside the glass door before allowing him into the house. Her forté is marketing, and she sells their varietal honeys each week at the Launceston Harvest Market. They also sell from home, and have a stall at Agfest.

They have named their honeys to reflect the area and species of origin. Manuka honey from our native leptospermum or ti tree, is regularly tested for high levels of the natural medicinal qualities for which it is famous.

Prickly Box is the delicious product of that spiny native shrub. ‘Devil’s Gullet’ honey combines Waratah, Leatherwood and other species from this isolated bush site and ‘Cradle Spice’ captures the strong wild essence of Cradle Mountain. Armony honey is their pride and joy, a multi-floral perfumed boutique honey from the Arm River.

At this year’s R0yal Hobart Fine Food Awards, Wendy and David won gold medals for Devil’s Gullet and Cradle Spice, and a silver medal for their Armony honey. ‘We are so very, very proud to have achieved this from just three entries,’ said Wendy. They have also won medals at the Australian Food Awards in Melbourne

They are thrilled to have successfully exhibited their Tasmanian honey this year in world competition in Canada at Apimondia, where they were awarded a bronze medal for their Leatherwood honey.

‘We’re just quiet achievers,’ said David. westbeehoney@bigpond.com 0448 000 599 www.westbeehoney.com.au