Bee happy

By Victoria McGuin

The Maple Street Co-op is one of our treasured stores for high-quality food and supplies, specialising in organic, ethical and local produce and goods.

Maleny Honey is a regular best-seller at the Co-op, produced by Scott Whitaker and Allyson Reynolds of Hinterland Bees.

“We acquired our first hive in 1996,” said Scott, “and now we have over 200 hives in fixed-location apiaries across the Range.”

According to Scott, hinterland bees forage the biodiverse rainforests, orchards, and gardens of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, and their honey expresses the Terroir, or poetry of landscape.

“We keep the beneficial properties of natural raw honey because we focus on eco-conscious production, with no additives, chemicals or heat treatment,” explained Scott.

Scott and Allyson have now introduced the traceability concept to their honey, showing the journey from apiary to pantry.

“On every jar you will find a QR code on the lid, and when you scan it, you can see where the honey came from,” shared Scott.

“We have maps on our website which show where our bees forage. The website also lists the important floral resources and shows how far each apiary is from our honey house. Due to the strategic locations of our apiary sites, our bees can visit almost every garden between Maleny and Mapleton.

“Bees can forage up to five kilometres from their hives. Up here they probably only travel about three kilometres.”

Maleny Honey does not use migratory beekeeping methods, so the honey is of mixed floral origin. “It all depends upon seasonal and local conditions,” said Scott.

You can see more about Maleny Honey on Instagram ‘@hinterlandbees’ and their website has their story, plus useful information on how to catch a swarm, how to remove bees from your house safely, and many more bee-related queries and tips.

“We are fascinated by bees,” added Scott. “They are vital to our eco-system, and we need to treat them gently. We share this belief and appreciation with our customers and clients.

“We love doing this, and now we have the QR code and maps, it brings more authenticity and traceability to our honey.”

Having a jar of Maleny Honey at home, I can attest to the quality of this sweet, floral, amber, viscous liquid. I enjoy the fact that every jar I’ve had has tasted slightly different, but always delicious, thanks to the changing seasonal conditions affecting the bees’ choice of flower.

“I like to think our Maleny Honey tastes so good because of the care and love we have for the bees who live in our apiaries,” Scott said with a smile.

I would have to agree – I think these are very happy hinterland bees.

You can find Maleny Honey in Maple Street Co-op, 37 Maple Street, Maleny, The Falls Farm, Maleny IGA and Belmondos or via their website: hinterlandbees.com.au