Since 4000 BC, humans have kept bees for the production of honey. From the first food-gatherers to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, records show the importance of bees and their honey. A treasured source of food and energy, honey was also valued as an antibacterial wound dressing.
When John Cable was a boy, growing up on a farm in the Riverina, he loved to help the beekeeper across the road. Even when he became Chief Chemist at the National Biological Standards Laboratory (now the Therapeutic Goods Administration), John's fascination with bees continued and he kept a few hives in the countryside outside Canberra.
After retiring from the hectic life of a senior public servant, he decided to become a beekeeper and cast around for a piece of land that wasn't too far away from family and friends in Melbourne. He decided that a property at the back of Glenlyon, down a country lane and surrounded by the Upper Loddon State Forest, would be ideal.
Most commercial beekeepers keep between 500 and 2,000 hives. John's hives number 100; just enough to produce a worthwhile amount of honey but not so many that he doesn't have time to study the social behaviour of these intriguing and industrious insects.
In the Central Highlands region, the bees are intensely busy collecting nectar and pollen between November and March. Depending on the weather, John's bees produce Yellow Box honey between November and December, Red Gum between December and January and Messmate, Manna Gum and Grey Box between February and March. The bees hibernate at Glenlyon during the winter months and in spring John takes some of them on holiday to the Riverina to breed up on the canola and the Paterson's curse.
In a good year, John's bees produce 3,000 to 4,000 kilograms of honey, the majority of which is sold as bulk honey to Capilano Honey Ltd, the beekeeper's co-operative in Maryborough, while the rest is packaged under the JC Bee Honey label.
Containing vitamins and minerals, honey is a quick, safe and natural energy food because its simple sugars are quickly absorbed into the blood stream. While this is a sound reason to include honey in your diet, it is the subtlety of flavour, unique to each floral source, that the connoisseurs or "honeyholics" seek. From the classic mild sweet flavour of Yellow Box honey, to the rich flavour of Red Gum or the peppery flavour of Messmate, there's a honey to suit every taste.
To be successful, a beekeeper requires experience and energy. To ensure the "honey flow" in a variety of seasons, he needs to access a range of locations where the bees can gather nectar and for this he requires a deep understanding of the land.
In every glorious spoonful of JC Bee Honey, you can taste the result of John Cable's skill, diligence and depth of knowledge - and his abiding fascination with bees.
Product Availability:
Fernleigh Farms, Cliffy's Daylesford, Glenlyon General Store, East Hawthorn Farmer's Market in Melbourne (3rd Saturday of each month)
|
- Address
- RMB 4184 Butlers Lane, Glenlyon, Victoria , Australia, 3461
- Telephone
- 03 5348 7947
- Town
- Glenlyon
- Contact
- John Cable
|
