Meet the Gympie beekeepers changing the world
'The more wild you can get the bees, the more pure the honey'
Gympie
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FATHER and son beekeepers Murray and Mitchell Mahaffey are changing the world one jar of raw organic honey at a time.
Goomboorian Gold honey, produced and packaged in the eastern Gympie region suburb, is not only an expanding local business but a growing social enterprise.
What was inspired by the tasty selection of home-grown honeys at the Gympie Show for Mitchell as a teenager has grown into a business with a heart for healing international injustice, following Mitchell's travels to some of Asia's poorer countries.
"I saw some scenes that really impacted me - some of the poverty and some of the conditions people were in was unbelievable," he said.
Last year the honey label, which has been making a name for itself interstate, partnered with non-profit organisation Destiny Rescue.
Money from each jar of honey sold helps fund work to rescue, rehabilitate and re-educate children from sex slavery.
"The sex trade is bigger than it ever has been in history," Mitchell said.
"You can't just sit by and let that happen."
The Goomboorian Gold bees, which will be a 200-strong hive by spring, are moved between the Cooloola and Sunshine Coast hinterlands and Northern NSW and Central Queensland, where they work from remote flowering trees.
Bee nutrition and keeping the product as untouched as possible is the formula for creating the raw, certified organic honey.
"The more wild you can get the bees, the more pure the honey," Mitchell said.
"We're really lucky in Australia we have those unique tastes. People love the fact it's raw, unprocessed and organic.
"And by people buying the simple thing they need, they can be giving every day and changing the world."
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