Backyard Beekeeping Bowral

Love honey? Love bees?

Get suited up and visit a local hive. In this activity, you’ll arrive at my home in Bowral (address supplied after booking) and, after a quick look over my hives (from a distance) we’ll start with a honey tasting (with morning tea of fresh scones).

I like to think of it as “tasting the seasons” as I’ll take you through honey taken from the same hives at different times of the year.

You’ll get to try bushfire honey, early spring and honey a week old. This leads beautifully into an overview of a colony and the lifecycle of a honey bee, queen and drones. We’ll then “suit up” in a professional sting proof suit and collect leaves and bark to light a smoker.

After this, we will go to the hives and you’ll be shown through the different styles, including the new Flow Hive and the process of doing a standard inspection.

We will check the laying pattern of the queen, check for honey stores, and check for pests. If we’re lucky we’ll find “Liz” the current queen (lol).

You will need fully enclosed shoes to be able to do this. Ideally leather boots. Everything else is provided. Also, keep in mind that we “smoke” the hive and you will end up smelling of eucalyptus smoke.

• Other things to note:
  In this experience, you will be walking down my backyard in a bee suit and gloves. The suit covers you from ankles to wrists and includes a hat and veil.
  The only thing you need to wear is fully enclosed shoes.
  A pair of leather boots is ideal.
  There are a few steps and some uneven ground.
  Although the group size is limited it is possible to host a larger group;
  I simply bring along another beekeeper and they will open another hive. Likewise you can request a date that isn’t currently listed.
• All bookings are through AiBNB Experiences which covers insurance etc. There are two options for the beekeeping workshops. a 90minute session costing $90 per person https://bit.ly/airbeenbee and a 2 x hour session costing $128 focusing on the Flow Hive and harvesting honey which you get to take home. http://bit.ly/harvesthoney