Bees With Ben

Welcome to Bees with Ben podcast episode 81. Randy Oliver is a commercial beekeeper in California who currently runs around 1,000-1,500 hives with his two sons. He started keeping bees as a hobby back in about 1966, and later obtained science degrees specialising in entomology. In 1993, the varroa mite arrived in California, and after having his apiary wiped out for the second time in 1999, Randy...

Bees with Ben podcast episode 80 features the father and son combination of Mark, the eccentric ‘The Bush Bee Man’, and John (his son) who is responsible for holding the camera. Their website describes Mark as a ‘quintessential farmer from the Australian outback region of the Riverland’. He is noted for his humorous YouTube videos, and Ben struggles not to laugh as he recounts Mark’s hilarious att...

In the Bees with Ben podcast episode 79, Ben chats with Jay Curtin, the CEO of Australian Honey Ventures, based in Western Australia. The AHV website describes the business as ‘a 100% Australian privately owned aggregator of Australian honey with impressive honey inventory levels capable of supplying packaged honey products to export markets’. Through ‘collaborative relationships with beekeepers a...

PODCAST EPISODE 78 of the Bees with Ben podcast features Kevin Tracy, the queen bee guru from Queensland’s Gold Coast. Originally from Chicago, Kevin says he’s more Australian than Australia, but he still hasn’t managed to lose the tell-tale accent (he claims it is 100% Queenslander!). Kevin is the owner and manager of BeeZone Apiaries Queen Bees and Training, and besides producing queens, honey a...

Welcome to episode 77 of the Bees with Ben podcast! It has been said that age is of no importance unless you are a cheese, and that the only thing that comes automatically as a result of old age is wrinkles! Bill Vaughan once remarked that, ‘By the time you’re eighty years old you’ve learned everything - you only have to remember it!’ But, jokes aside, it has also been observed that life is about...

Podcast Episode 76: Gruffydd Rees from Carmarthenshire, Wales UK It is always inspiring to meet beekeepers from all parts of the globe who are passionate about caring for honey bees - and producing pure, raw, local honey - and Gruffydd Rees is a perfect example. Hailing from South Wales, Gruffydd was originally gifted a hive by a local farmer, and from humble beginnings at the bottom of his parent...

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

PODCAST EPSIODE 75: Col Wilson, commercial beekeeper, Hunter Valley, New South Wales As life has moved more and more online, it’s often quite easy to find out about a person, their life and business, just by a quick Google search. And while I love the magic and connection and potential the internet and social media has to offer, there is something to be said for living outside of this realm of tec...

PODCAST EPSIODE 74: Michael Johnson, Co-founder of The Basin Backyard, Knoxfield, Victoria The Melbourne suburb known as The Basin (of the City of Knox) is, as the name suggests, a basin-like area surrounded by the majestic Dandenong Ranges. A part of the world I know well, I was over the moon when I first stumbled upon a fantastic bee business aptly named The Basin Backyard – a garden paradise in...

PODCAST EPSIODE 73: Nat and Shane, Beekeepers and Founders of Wondermazing Honeybees, Macedon Ranges, Victoria When you run a bee business, thinking up your business name is a big deal. For me, having a name starting with “B” was very helpful, and the sing-song nature of Ben’s Bees felt right from the start. However, if my name wasn’t Ben, and I was searching for a business name that could encapsu...

PODCAST EPSIODE 72: Crispin Boxhall, Beekeeper and Beekeeping Educator, Petwood, South Australia As some of you know, the Almond Pollination and Beekeeping Field Day held annually (pre-COVID) at Renmark in South Australia is a real love of mine – it’s kind of a bee-nerd fest, if I am honest. Coming together with a group of passionate, dedicated beekeepers is an absolute delight; I find myself gett...

Hive Buddy is a new place for beekeepers to learn, contribute and grow together with their beekeeping. It has been put together by some Australian beekeepers with the hope to finally create a place where beekeepers can increase their confidence and competence in both an informal setting and through more organised mentorship groups. Hive Buddy is a really relaxed (and free) experience sharing platf...

PODCAST EPSIODE 71: Bron Barton, President of the South Gippsland Beekeeper Club, Korumburra With the rise of bees in the consciousness of the public as people come to realise their role as the world’s most vital pollinators, beekeeping clubs have also risen in popularity. Beekeeping clubs offer a range of amazing resources for new and professional beekeepers, but they are especially useful for th...

PODCAST EPISODE 70: Dr John Roberts, entomologist and bee expert at the CSIRO, Australia There are amazing Australians working to keep the country and the planet healthy and disease-free. We have all seen the incredible work that healthcare workers are doing day in, day out, to test, and vaccinate people from catching COVID-19, as well as those nurses and doctors doing the tough job of treating pa...

PODCAST EPISODE 69: Stan Taylor, beekeeper and author of Stan’s Bee Book, Western Australia Ben’s Bees has given me so many incredible opportunities. I love the people I meet each and every day through running a business built on passion. This includes activists and entrepreneurs doing incredible work that helps the environment and makes living on this planet a more joyful and sustainable experien...

PODCAST EPISODE 68: Simon Mildren, fire fighter, beekeeper, and CEO/founder of HiveKeepers, Australia Some people love hot-rods, while others get more excited over diamonds; high-end designer handbags; fine china; boats; the fanciest pair of sneakers. There are many lush collectables that people desire with all their heart and do whatever they have to do to get their hands on…. steal, even! Now we...

PODCAST EPISODE 67: Trevor Weatherhead, beekeeper and chair of the AHBIC, Peak Crossing, Queensland As a baby of the 1970s, I have a sense of nostalgia and fondness for that era. The social change, the focus on environmental issues, the passion that people had for protesting for a more liberated and conscious society – not to mention the fashion! I often send my mind back to imagine what it would...

PODCAST EPISODE 66: Cate Burton, Founder and CEO of Queen B, Sydney, Australia Anyone that knows me knows, even before I had a factory space to make all my bee-related products for Ben’s Bees, and even before I had the staff to help me make them, my home was overflowing with handmade bee products. In particular, the kitchen would transform into a candle-making workshop most nights of the week afte...

PODCAST EPISODE 65: Natalie Skovron, founder and CEO of DETOXDEN, Sydney and online Being a beekeeper has opened my mind and life up to healthy living and expanded my awareness of using natural materials whenever possible. One of the things I have deeply enjoyed about selling bee-related products over the past ten or more years, is watching the way in which consumers in Australia have leaned into...

PODCAST EPISODE 64: David Priddy from Sundew Solutions, Australia As some of my many jobs include the rehoming of bee swarms and nests and the removal of dangerous wasp nests, I have done quite a bit of thinking about different methods of pest removal. Of course, when it comes to bees, the answer is to do what you can to always save the colony and rehome the bees safely and happily. However, the w...

PODCAST EPISODE 63: Ronnie Voigt, natural beekeeper and educator, Natural Beekeeping Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania One form of heaven involves two of my greatest loves: natural beekeeping and Tasmania. Most of you would know that Tasmania is an exquisite island situated off the mainland of Australia, home to diverse and pristine landscapes, and unique flora and fauna; also, from my experience, it is...

PODCAST EPISODE 62: Vearna Gloster, beekeeper, poet and author, Trinidad and Tobago, South America Beekeeping is an ancient and expansive practice that continues to be part of cultures from all over the world. This is one of the aspects of beekeeping that I am most humbled and excited by; also, it means that I have the privilege and joy of meeting people like long-time beekeeper, educator, poet an...

PODCAST EPISODE 61: Beekeeper, entrepreneur and founder of Whale Labs, James Watts, Brisbane, Queensland Beekeeping is an everchanging and exciting practice and industry. With so much still not known about bees and the incredible properties of honey and other bee-related substances, apiary and beekeeping are areas that engage constantly with science and business as new revelations come to light. W...

PODCAST EPISODE 60: Liz Frost, Technical Specialist of Bees and co-manager of Plan B, Hunter region, New South Wales, Australia There are a lot of people in the bee world who do amazing work, but every now and then you come across someone who truly blows you away. Liz Frost is undoubtedly one of those humans and I am thrilled to introduce her to the BEES WITH BEN beekeeping podcast for episode 60....

PODCAST EPISODE 59: Andrew Wilson, founder of Sydney Bee Rescue and Snives Hives, Sydney, Australia The COVID-19 pandemic has led to changes across the globe. We have all felt it, some much more than others. My heart goes out to those people that have been rocked by the illness and its side effects, be they emotional, mental, or financial. Andrew Wilson, the founder of Sydney Bee Rescue and Snives...