Change suits Scott to a bee

THEY’VE stung him many times and he knows not to trust them, but Scott Bevis can’t help but be fascinated by bees and making honey.

Bee Australian managing director Scott Bevis. Photo: Dominika Lis

COVERED from head to toe, Scott Bevis carefully lifts out a frame from his hive and sees his bees have been busy since he last checked.

While it’s towards the end of peak honey production, the frame is full.

Smoking the hive has calmed the bees but Scott is alert. He has a healthy respect for bees and how they work together, but he knows first-hand they will sting. The Margate resident and general manager of Bee Australian has been stung many times.

The European honey bees have different temperaments and their mood can change depending on the weather and what’s going on in the hive. “Some days they’re just nasty. I never trust the bees,” he says.

Scott, 46, took up beekeeping four years ago as a hobby because he had trouble finding pure honey, and turned it into a business about a year ago. He sells honey from hives he has in four locations across the Moreton Bay Region, but also supplies equipment to amateur and commercial operators from his Rothwell base.

Scott had been a telecommunications design engineer for 21 years and was looking for a lifestyle change before taking the plunge.

“I went into this only as a hobby ... now it’s a full time job and I’m a small business owner in the industry,” he says.

Scott appreciates the science behind bee keeping and says there is plenty of work in the background to ensure the hive is healthy.

Bee Australian managing director Scott Bevis. Photo: Dominika Lis

He says the surrounding environment influences the taste and colour of the honey, particularly the types of flowers nearby. The season also plays its part.

The best season for honey production is coming into spring and summer. He says bees ramp up production and the number of bees hatching also increases.

Pesticides, disease and pests have caused a worldwide decline in bees, but Scott says the impact has so far not been as great in Australia because of strict biosecurity and quarantine laws and the fact we are an “island”.

He says eventually though there could be problems. “We’re working as a collective community to try to manage that before it happens,” he says.

There is also plenty the rest of us can to do to help – including planting and looking after bee-friendly flowers and shrubs.

Visit beeaustralian.com.au or phone [phone] for more information.