Being of the adventurous type results in having a plethora of hobbies, and for Craigmore’s Jason Tomlinson that looks like hiking, motorcycle riding and DIY projects galore.
However, among these hobbies, Jason for the last six months has owned a hive of bees after saving a swarm found at his full-time job.
“I got my hive, it was ready to go and I had organised with a couple of people to get my bees, but there was quite a long waiting list,” he said.
“A friend of mine at work is into bees. He’s the one that got me into it - he’s just a hobbyist – and he contacted me and said there’s a swarm of bees at work if you’re interested.
“We went to have a look while I was actually at work, (my partner’s son) actually brought my little nuc, the portable beehive, to me and we literally just put the swarm of bees in the nuc. And then I bought them home.
“The next day, I transferred them into my actual beehive.”
When catching a hive in the wild, there is a fear of not capturing the queen, which can be detrimental to the hive’s survival and success.
“Generally speaking, if there’s a swarm there will be a queen, but obviously as part of the process of transferring the swarm into a nuc, there is a risk that you can lose the queen,” Jason said.
“She could fly off or you might drop her on the ground, but the only way you can tell is if the bees go back to the nuc, that’s a good indication that you’ve got the queen.
“Then you monitor the nuc or the hive for the next few days, just to make sure they’re returning there and it looks healthy.
Luckily my queen was in there, so I ended up with quite a healthy hive.”
After considering obtaining bees for a while, Jason spent hours upon hours doing research before becoming a beekeeper.
“I did a beginner’s beekeeping course, all they do is basically tell you the minimum requirements for keeping bees, you have to keep records, how to care for them, how to inspect them, and they talk about registration,” he said.
“You’ve got to register the fact that you’re a beekeeper and you have to have your registration letters, which I’ve got on my beehive, JBT.
“There is some compulsory reporting for the varroa mite obviously, but that’s not common around here. The other one is a moth that can invade the hive but generally if the hive is healthy and strong the bees will just take care of that.”
Now well into his beekeeping journey, Jason understands the risks of changing climates for bees, and preaches the importance of daily, weekly and fortnightly checks to ensure the hive’s survival.
“In summer a big risk to the bees is climate, so it can get too hot and you can lose your hive or your bees wax can melt…” he said.
“If it’s too cold, (and) the bees aren’t able to regulate the temperature in the hive, the nit can get too cold and they can die. Temperature is a key thing.
“Daily, it’s just quick inspection to make sure they’re okay and check water and the fact that nothing’s damaged or the weather hasn’t damaged them.
“Then weekly and fortnightly stuff, there’s a tray in my type of hive that you can take out and inspect, and you’re supposed to do an internal inspection because that’s the best way to check that (the hive is) healthy, there’s no mould, mites or that sort of stuff.
“If they’ve not got enough honey reserves, you can make the decision to feed them, you can just give them sugar water... If they’ve got a healthy supply of honey, they’re better left off eating their own honey. That’s healthier for them.”
Almost six months in, Jason’s hive has successfully produced several batches of deliciously rich honey.
“There’s a ton of honey in there. I’m just saving it for winter for them to make sure they survive through winter,” he said.
“Because it’s my first year I won’t harvest this year, I’ll harvest next year. I’ll give them the best chance of survival over winter.”
With the future of his beekeeping endeavours continuing to be solely hobby-based, Jason is content with this for now, with his current situation being “the limit of (his) ambition at the moment”.
“The future will just be maintaining it as a hobby. I don’t have any ambitions to do it beyond that,” he said.
I’ll just use the honey for self-consumption, family and also to make some mead.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Phil Marshall is on the road to retirement, downsizing his 10-year-old endeavour and three-year-old business, Barossa Honey and Adelaide Bee Sales.
Phil started out in the bee industry in the exact same way Jason did, and has come a long way since that exciting moment.
“I have been beekeeping for 10 years. It all started with catching a swarm and having one hive in the backyard,” he said.
“I moved to full-time beekeeping at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic… My other work ended because of Covid, so I launched my business with the help of a government program.”
Phil enjoys the industry and “being his own boss”, but many other perks add to the love of being a beekeeper, aside from handling the ever-important insect.
“I enjoy... working outside, being a primary producer and working with bees,” he said.
“The apiary industry is small and dispersed across the state… I do enjoy the friendships that I’ve developed between beekeepers.
“You meet interesting and diverse people in beekeeping and work with rural landowners with pollination services and honey production.”
Now preparing for retirement, Phil is in the process of downsizing his business – not saying goodbye completely just yet.
“I have decided to transition towards retirement… I want to spend more time with family and friends and reduce the hours at work,” he said.
“I will downsize my business and keep it going part time… I want to travel more.”
