THERE is a calming effect in working up close with thousands of busy bees that apiarists Scott Denno and Amanda Collins want to share.
They say in the right setting, beekeeping can be a therapeutic practice based on mindfulness and benefits of being in nature.
It is not just the gentle buzz of workers but the focus on being present while opening the hives and the pride in tasting raw honey.
Their bees are set to become Australia's first community apiary for people with mental health struggles, including returned servicemen and women with post-traumatic stress, in Ballarat.
The project is based on a successful Canadian model Hives for Humanity as a way to reconnect people with nature, community and themselves.
Ms Collins said the seed for the Delacombe-based program was sown in a Garden Releaf event at Spot on Pots and Nursery one year ago in a bid to promote a daily #30greenminutes for mental health.
The Backyard Beekeepers Ballarat formed a partnership with the nursery's Jason and Carly Macdonald, exploring ways to work together to improve a global issue at the grassroots.
But it was in Gardening Australia profile on how military veteran, Crispin Boxall, had turned to beekeeping in his post-traumatic stress recovery in which they found inspiration for HiveMind Community Apiary.
"We can focus on mindfulness, horticulture therapy and mood foods to help improve people's well-being, not to mention the physical exercise in the garden," Ms Collins said.
"Everyone is touched by mental illness in some way, either from experience or as a carer or advocate.
"As part of our fundraising we want to make this sustainable ...There is also hope to expand in the area. This is just a beginning."
HiveMind groups will be small to ensure the experience is calm and not overwhelming.
Ms Collins said these bees and happy and engaged in their work, which open hive sessions could showcase. This is also a chance for people to learn more about pollinator friendly plants to have in their garden.
A season of beekeeping, three hours a month for eight months, will allow people the chance to immerse themselves in the apiary weekly from the start of beekeeping season later this year.
The program already has support from Ballarat and District Suicide Prevention Network, Compassionate Ballarat, Buninyong Returned and Services League and City of Ballarat.
Gardening Australia host Costa Georgiadis is offering his support and encouragement as HiveMind ambassador.
Ms Collins describes their model as a community enterprise: a cross between a community group and social enterprise. She said harvesting honey from the hives will help the boost the program's sustainability along with by-products like beeswax candles and pollinator friendly seed bombs.
Australian-designed Flow Hives allow for honey on tap, straight from the hive.
Their peaceful patch is on the site of a former WWII ammunition factory, later a paper mill, that has been a pot factory the past two decades.
Spot on Pots owner, Carly Macdonald, a teacher by trade, has been learning more about bees every day, from the greater diversity they can bring to foods we eat to garden health, the fascinating ways they work and the lessons bees can teach us.
"I never imagined we would be here 12 months ago when we met Amanda and Scott," Ms Macdonald said.
"The links were quite strong to what we have been doing with Garden Releaf, which supports BeyondBlue.
"We had been raising awareness for people to get outside in nature and be active for 30 minutes...that doesn't mean you have to get your hands in the dirt. There is good activity just being with bees."
HiveMind Community Apiary officially launched on March 22, coinciding with Garden Releaf Day.
The community apiary is on Elizabeth Street, Delacombe, behind Spot on Pots and Nursery.
