our Bees
All of our bee product are 100% organic, nutritious, and delicious! Take your pick from any of our honey, candied honey, or beeswax products.
About ouR HIVES
Colo River Honey currently has 25 hives on the Colo River and will expnd to 50 hives in 2023.
Our Bees
Our bees are Apis Mellifera (or the European Honey Bee). Our queens are italian. Italian queens are popular in the apiary industry because of their high productivity and moderate temperament.
Why not use Native Bees?
Native Bees are not very good honey producers. The honey of native bees is called sugarbag and a good hive will product 1kg of sugarbag in a year. A reasonable hive of European Honey bees will, by way on contrast, produce 60kgs or more in a year.
Do European Honey Bees Compete with Native Bees?
In the case of the Colo River Valley there are relatively small populations of bees, both native and introduced, so there is plenty of pollen and nectar for everyone.
Are they pest free?
There are a number of pest and viruses that affect honey bees. Thes pests and diseases include varroa mite, european foul brood, american foul brood, Braula fly and Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida). Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) was accidentally introduced into Australia at Windsor during the 2000 Sydney Olympics at Richmond airforce base and has now spread thoughout all of Australia, except for Tasmania. Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) is present in most hives but is a minor pest and does not impact the honey, wax or pollen and has a minimla impct on production.
About our Honey
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What type of honey is it?
We try and stay completely natural and we do not blend our honey so the taste and colour will depend on what is flowering at that time if year. In early spring you get honey from the wattle trees and later in summer the bees collect nectar from Sydney peppermint (Eucalyptus piperita), red bloodwood (E. gummifera), Sydney red gum (Angophora costata) and turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera).
How natural is it?
All of our products are 100% natural. The honey comes to you in exactly the same condition as we collect it. The only treatment, if you can call ist that, is that any bits of wax or other bee debris floats to the top of the honey and is skimmed off before bottling.
How Long does honey keep?
Honey is a completely natural product and is really a super saturated solution of two sugards, levulose and dextrose. No bacteria or viruses can live in honey and it can keep for decades. Honey may candy (granulate) over time but can be restored by gently warming it in a bath of warm water. A honey that candies easily is a sign of its quality becasue it has a lower moisture content than a honey that candies slowly.