DROUGHT stricken graziers have been making headlines in recent months but spare a thought for those in the western beekeeping world who have battled tough seasons for decades.
For more than 20 years Roma beekeeper Clem Boughen OAM has adapted his management to combat dry conditions for his hives as pollen stocks remain scarce away from the coastlines.
It’s meant reducing hive robs to once a year and building two and a half high boxes to allow for adequate room for the swarms.
From the moment he was tall enough to peep over the lid of a bee box, Mr Boughen had a fond love for beekeeping and honey production passed on from his father.
The 70-year-old had up to 130 hives from the Carnarvon Ranges to Morven before decreasing his stocks to 30.
On average, a box homes 60,000-70,000 bees and could produce 25kg each year at about $8/kg.
In a good season, when eucalyptus lined Roma’s creeks, Mr Boughen would have to rob his bees three times a year.
“Around 1983 or 84, in that era, it didn’t matter what you did, you didn’t do anything wrong because the nectar was there and you collected the honey but it’s gradually worse and worse,” he said.
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The bees are packed down with enough honey for winter before pollen become available in the natural environment. The queen begins laying eggs and the establishment of eucalyptus in September allows for honey production.
Mr Boughen sells all his honey privately, with customers travelling as far as the Gold Coast to secure his liquid gold.
While producing honey in coastal areas is much easier, Mr Boughen said the western area had its own flavour benefits.
“You’ve got more chance of getting flowers on the coast but a lot of the honey over there is very light honey and the specific gravity of it is not there,” he said.
“Out here you get honey with a better specific gravity and better flavour.”
Mr Boughen hopes to pass on his love of bee production further in the south west and recently spoke at the Roma Beekeeping Club to at least 50 enthusiasts.
Not only does Mr Boughen have his own honey production, he has also become the town’s unofficial bee hive rescuer.
By educating more people on correct beekeeping methods he hopes to be able to relocate hives to the enthusiasts.
“Once it starts getting warmer and the wild turnip comes out you could get three or four calls a day (about rescuing hives),” Mr Boughen’s wife Christine said.
“A lot of people think you just go and lift the lid and get some honey out and these flow hives, they think you can just turn the tap on,” Mr Boughen added.
“A lot of people think that it’s easy going, you have to work at it.”
Mr Boughen’s love for honey extends to his plate, where he quickly learnt that eating the sweet treat on his toast, in his tea and on his lunch each day isn’t healthy for your pancreas.
Above all else it is the therapeutic benefits that has kept Mr Boughen beekeeping for so long.
“I was a building contractor and some of the things they come at you with, it just frustrates you,” he said.
“And then you go to the bees and you forget about all those worries and if you do the wrong thing, they’ll sting you, but other than that it’s good.
“A lot of the time you observe what the bees are doing and they tell you what the seasons are doing.”
- This story first appeared on the Qld Country Life.