Bees With Ben

All good things must (sometimes) pause... and after an incredible journey of conversations, laughter, learning, and buzzing with brilliant guests, this is the final episode of  Bees with Ben  – at least for a while. In today’s episode, I reflect on the wild ride this podcast has been – from talking bees and biosecurity to sharing stories from the paddock, the lab, and everywhere in between. I’ve h...

Guest: Norm Collins – Seven Decades in Beekeeping In this special episode, I chat with Norm Collins, a true pioneer in Australian beekeeping. Once the largest beekeeper in Victoria, Norm recently turned 80, and he joins me to reflect on a lifetime of working with bees. We take a journey back to when Norm received his very first box of bees at just seven years old, and explore how much the world of...

🎙️ Episode 126 – I’m Back! (Yes, Really!) Welcome back to  Bees with Ben  – and yes, you heard right… I’M BACK! It’s been a  buzzing  12 months since the last episode, and I want to start by saying a huge thank you to everyone who’s stayed subscribed, messaged, or asked, “Where’s the podcast, Ben?” Life got wild – as it often does when you’re juggling bees, business, family, and everything in betw...

Join me on a unique episode of "Bees with Ben" as I take you on a journey to Shepparton! Recorded on the road, this episode captures the spontaneous and unfiltered thoughts I navigate through my beekeeping job, whilst on the road! Expect a delightful ramble covering a variety of topics, from the intricacies of beekeeping in different environments to amusing anecdotes from the road. '...

 In this episode, I chat with Sam and Nicholas, the dynamic father-son duo behind Meli Honey. Their journey is a testament to passion, family, and the pursuit of quality. We dive into their fascinating story of importing premium Greek honey to Australia, and how their love for this golden elixir has translated into a thriving business. Just after we wrapped up recording, Sam and Nicholas received...

The Story of Gavin's Apiaries with Liam Gavin In the lush, sub-tropical landscape of Northland, New Zealand, lies a testament to tradition, resilience, and a deep-rooted passion for beekeeping. Gavin's Apiaries, a fourth-generation family business, traces its origins back to 1912 when James John Gavin embarked on a journey that would shape the family's legacy for generations to come. I...

In Episode 122 of the Bees with Ben podcast, host Ben chats with the experienced commercial beekeeper Kevin Simons from Edgecomb Honey, nestled in the scenic North Island Bay of Plenty in Whakatane, New Zealand. Kevin has been a part of the beekeeping industry since 1984, witnessing firsthand the dramatic shifts in the landscape of apiculture, particularly with the advent of varroa mites. This epi...

Revolutionizing Bee Hive Lifting: A Conversation with Jai Stafford of Ezy Loaders    In this episode, we explore the innovative world of Ezy Loaders with none other than Jai Stafford, the driving force behind these game-changing material handling devices. Join us as we delve into how Ezy Loaders are making loading processes easier, safer, and more efficient across various industries but mostly the...

Welcome to another buzzing episode of the "Bees With Ben" podcast! In this instalment, Ben chats with Steve, an avid beekeeper from Western Australia whose journey into the world of bees began through a unique blend of friendship and curiosity. Discover how Steve was introduced to beekeeping when his regular fishing buddy had too many beehives to manage, leading to less time for their fi...

With more than 10 years’ experience, developing, designing and delivering workplace mental health and wellbeing programs, Rae works with a broad range of organisations, industries and settings with a special skill in crisis and suicide response. A qualified counsellor trained in Rogerian theory – Rae draws on her authenticity, genuineness, and empathy to create environments of trust and safety. Sh...

The Mystery of Toxic Honeys with Dr. Andrew Knill"** Welcome to another buzzing episode of "Bees with Ben," a podcast where we delve into the fascinating world of bees and their impact on our ecosystem. This week, we're joined by renowned scientist Dr. Andrew Knill, who brings his expertise to a rather intriguing topic: toxic honeys and the effects of Patterson's Curse necta...

This week’s episode of the Bees with Ben podcast features a question-and-answer session between Ben and his special studio guest, Brent Nixon, who has driven down from Ballarat South for the occasion. Naturally, Ben’s first question for Brent is how he started out with bees? Brent explains that he grew up in a family of cattle breeders and wanted to breed something for himself. He studied genetics...

In this week’s episode of the Bees with Ben podcast, Ben is fortunate to have as his guest a man with a wealth of experience in all areas of the beekeeping industry, with a glittering array of credentials! Steve Fuller is an Executive Councillor of the NSW Apiarists’ Association Inc., President of the Northern Coast branch of NSWAA, an Advisory panel member for Agrifutures’ Australia (Honey Bee an...

Today’s very special guest on the Bees with Ben podcast is Corinne Jordan from The Bee Lady Apiaries (visit honeybeelady.com). Corinne founded this family-owned business in 2008 after initially researching beekeeping as a potential vocation for her son (who subsequently proved to be allergic to bee venom) and then developing a passion for honey bees herself! Located about halfway between Brisbane...

Ben’s guest in this episode of the Bees with Ben podcast is Simon Wynn-Taylor from Steritech. The company’s website (steritech.com.au) details some of the history of this family-owned Australian business, which emerged in Melbourne in the 1970s as the pioneer for gamma irradiation processing and has continued to pave the way for sterilization and decontamination processing. Steritech now operates...

This week’s fascinating episode of the Bees with Ben podcast features Dr Bridget Goodwin from the Australian Apitherapy Association (go to apitherapyaustralia.net). For those listeners unfamiliar with apitherapy, this involves the ‘use of products from the bee hive as medicine’. Dr Goodwin explains that there is a tendency for people to view bee products as rather innocuous whereas they are in fac...

This week’s episode of the Bees with Ben podcast features Michael Colvin of ‘High Meadow’. Michael was born and bred in Guyra, on top of the Great Dividing Range in the New England region of NSW. He was raised on a fine wool property near the small town of Wards Mistake, and has a passion for regenerative agriculture, having managed organic beef and sheep enterprises. Michael also loves his bees a...

Ben’s special guest this week on the Bees with Ben podcast is Stuart Sutherland from Electrotherm Pty Ltd. Electrotherm is an Australian manufacturer of specialized industrial heater jackets and pads. The company was established in 1991 with the aim of introducing energy efficiency to the traditional industrial heating market; their customer base includes industry, government, defence and research...

This week’s guest on the Bees with Ben podcast is Helen Charles from friendswithhoney.com.au. Helen is passionate about educating people about bees and has recently been working on a community project to encourage bees in a permaculture garden. She even roped in the local men’s shed in Brighton East to help construct the hives, and apparently the men had a ball! Helen explains that she has always...

Ben is back, with a new edition of the Bees with Ben podcast! A scheduled break of around 2 weeks quickly turned into over 3 months, with a hectic season that really finished with a bang. In fact, Ben has just pulled the last boxes of honey from his hives, with a fantastic season of mealy stringybark (Eucalyptus cephalocarpa) in the Yarra Valley. Stringybark honey is relatively slow to crystallize...

Its been over 3 months since the last Bees With Ben Podcast! Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we have some incredible guests lined up!

Earlier this year NSW DPI detected Varroa mite in surveillance hives at the Port of Newcastle, and then subsequent areas following more hive inspections. NSW DPI then released the Biosecurity (Varroa mite) Emergency Order 2022 in an attempt to eradicate this parasite that has the potential to seriously impact the Australian Honeybee Industry. This week we chat to Ben Moore from Ben's Bees (our res...

Episode 107 of the Bees with Ben podcast is likely to be the last for two or three months, as spring has sprung and Ben is busy contending with his usual hectic workload at this time of year. This episode is also a little different, as Ben gives us some insight into his journey thus far and offers some advice for those possibly thinking of setting up a beekeeping business. First of all, it’s hard...

Ben Moore is one of the top bee keepers in Australia and has been on the podcast before on episode 16, discussing homelessness, prior careers, police raids and his passion for all things Bees.  Given the incredibly serious invasive pest new to Australian shores, the Varroa Mite, we chat what is being done to combat the pest and the impact on the food production if we don’t. Plus we talk...

When we last met Kristofer Fricke, some months back in episode 94 of the Bees with Ben podcast, he was preparing to head to Africa to work on a couple of beekeeping aid projects. Well, he has just got back, and Ben couldn’t wait to hear what he has been up to. This episode of the podcast is also being broadcast on YouTube, and Kris is aptly dressed for the occasion in what he describes as a ‘Ghana...