Herbs and Hives

26/08/2025

After the NSW Govt killing all my honey bees, then Covid, and being diagnosed with Arthritis through my back, I am now concentrating on my wonderful native bees, Tetragonula carbonaria.

02/06/2024

Today I sold all my beekeeping gear, and now only have native bees. It has been a fascinating beekeeping journey, culminating in the govt destroying all my bees in the varroa response, and then being diagnosed with arthritis all through my back, so I can no longer lift and move bee boxes. I have 1 box of honey left and will be concentrating on native bees from here on. We are alsooving, when we sell our house in tenambit so watch put for new gardening and herb adventures in the future.

26/11/2023

One of my much loved clients returned a jar of my honey yesterday, as it "smelled funny". If you open one of my jars and if it smells funny, please let me know. Hive beetle has been rampant in hives in the Hunter Valley for the last 5 years. They get into a hive and excrete an enzyme that destroys honey. While we all have hive beetle traps in our hives, sometimes one tiny drop of enzyme can contaminate an entire batch. If you have a batch of my honey with a batch no that starts with DC, please open it and check. If contaminated, please let me know and I will swap it out immediately. Note, not all batches starting with DC have been contaminated, just the honey from one hive. For those interested, a hive beetle looks like a black lady beetle and they thrive in hot moist conditions.

26/11/2023

Native beehive split yesterday by Tim Heard... isn't it beautiful!

17/06/2023

Herbs and Hives will be at Maitland Heritage Fest tomorrow, in the grounds of Brough House with the last of my local honey. We would love to see you there.

17/02/2023

I still have honey and honeycomb available for sale.

22/09/2022

I have some honeycomb available for sale.

17/09/2022

Today Herbs and Hives is at the Maitland and Beyond Trade Day at 17 Lindesay St East Maitland. Come along and see some history while you buy your local honey.

14/09/2022

With a heavy heart I announce that 2 of my hives were euthanised Monday night and another goes next Monday. How will the Hunter Valley cope without bees for 3 years?

On a brighter note I do get to keep one hive, just outside the red zone so I will continue to have honey available

20/08/2022

Thanks to my wonderful hive hosts, the Thorvoldson family, I have managed to get honey off my hives before they are euthanised. I have been very careful not to breach biosecurity and now have approx 18 frames of honey in their freezer. Next week we will bring them home and extract the honey. Thank you Diana and Family.

30/07/2022

On this cold foggy morning, we are set up and making sales in Maitland Park with the last of our local honey, at Maitland Tattoo, listening to bagpipes playing and enjoying the sun starting to warm us up. The coffee is hot and the sausage sandwiches are good. Come down and say hello

28/07/2022

We are meeting DPI officials and Ministers, and trying to ascertain what is happening to our bees. As I understand it, 3 of my 4 hives will be euthanased in due course, and baiting in the area will happen. What this means for you is that local honey will become scarce, and it may take 3 to 5 years to recover. If varroa mite is not eradicated, all future honey may have traces of miticides. Pure organic honey may become impossible to get.

VISIT BY NSW MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE

On Monday the Gardens was pleased to welcome Dugald Saunders MP the NSW Minister for Agriculture.

Amongst other things, Mr Saunders was in the Hunter to meet with executives and representatives of the Hunter Valley Amateur Beekeepers Association to discuss the current state of play with the Varroa mite.

The Hunter Valley Amateur Beekeepers Association was established in 1965, and since 1994 has managed an apiary, extraction facility and storage sheds, and conducts training in beekeeping on the Botanic Gardens site.

Sadly, it is unlikely that the managed European bee hives will return to the Gardens in the next few years. However this will still depend upon the outcomes of the Varroa Eradication Response currently occurring across the Newcastle area.

The following photograph shows Mr Saunders (at front) with Beekeeper and Gardens representatives at the conclusion of the meeting.