Bee Friendly Farming

Much of my ‘extra curricular’ work and passion outside Beechworth Honey is devoted as a Board member to the Wheen Bee Foundation.

I’m really proud that this year Wheen Bee Foundation has been working on establishing the Bee Friendly Farming® program in Australia.

Fiona Chambers, the CEO of Wheen Bee Foundation, brought forward the idea of establishing this project in Australia after seeing how they ran in the US and much work has gone into ensuring they are suitably adapted for Australian conditions.

So far, the Wheen Bee Foundation has been working to certify farmers with an interest in making their farms more bee friendly and sustainable. To date, 30,000 hectares of farm land across Australia now dedicated to doing more for bees and other pollinators. The program will also help farmers to plant more trees and will guide them through ensuring their farming practices are more sensitive to bees and other pollinators.

Australian Pollinator Week sees the official launch of Bee Friendly Farming® GARDEN specifically designed for home, public, school and community gardeners who promote and provide habitat and pollinator health in non-commercial settings.

I’m also really excited that our friends from Flow Hive have come on board as the inaugural sponsor of Bee Friendly Farming – such massive supporters of bees and our environment. Big shout out and huge thanks to Flow Hive!

Pollinator Picnic

And if you need an excuse for a picnic in the next two weekends, gather your crew and make it a Pollinator Picnic. We’re kicking off our very own backyard Pollinator Picnic with some friends and family for a nighttime picnic this weekend. The menu will have a variety of food that wouldn’t exist without pollinators. I’ll be getting everyone in the groove by sharing the very cute 2021 Australian Pollinator Song that showcases the talent of two young musicians and pollinator lovers Amelie Ecology and Reuben Ryan.

The song and music video hopes to raise awareness of another mission of the Wheen Bee Foundation which is the Discover Bees Project which is a partnership with Taxonomy Australia. Wheen Bee Foundation is aiming to raise enough money to Discover Australia’s unknown bee species.

So raise your glasses, get out in your garden, take a walk and get up close and personal with your local flora and see if you can spot a pollinator you’ve not noticed before. The world of pollination, food security and biodiversity is so much more than our beautiful honeybees!

I’ve got my eye on our local Chocolate lilies (Arthropodium strictum) (yes they smell like chocolate) to see if they have any pollinators visiting. I’ve never ever seen a honeybee on these little beauties as I wander my usual loop around Beechworth in springtime. Share with us what you capture and have fun this Pollinator Week!