EPISODE: 104 John McArthur, Bee Feeds Australia

Episode 104 of the Bees with Ben podcast documents the extraordinary progress of a ground- breaking Australian small business. Against all odds, they launched their product just a week before Covid restrictions were announced in February 2020. John McArthur, of Banana Feeds Australia, says that he and his business partner, Robert Borsato (who is a third generation banana grower), were sick of seeing high quality bananas being downgraded because of minor skin blemishes, or the wrong shape, and decided to look further afield to find uses for this product. The Banana Feeds Australia website notes that for centuries, bananas have played a vital role in the healthy diet of both humans and animals alike and have been used by many elite athletes to help achieve peak performance. The business owners decided initially to focus on the possibilities of an equine supplement, but research was hard to find. Bananas had been shown to reduce the incidence of ulcers in rats, and to assist to prevent mastitis in dairy cattle, but this was unlikely to convince racehorse owners to try a product made entirely from dehydrated green bananas. So a research project was undertaken with the University of Adelaide, in an effort to identify and analyse the beneficial components of green bananas. In contrast to ripe bananas, which have a much higher sugar content, green bananas are high in carbohydrates. They also contain beneficial polyphenols and flavonoids, along with dopamine and serotonin, all of which are chiefly found in the peel. Banana Feeds Australia then constructed a state of the art factory in Far North Queensland, where whole green bananas (including peel, stems and flower ends) are washed, sliced, dried (raw bananas consist of 85-90% water) and then milled in a simple and safe process that produces a product that can easily be shipped anywhere in the world. B-Complete, the initial equine supplement, was launched with very little marketing and promotion; as John says, when you have a world-first product it’s ‘pretty important’ to be able to travel, in order to tell people about it, and this was impossible at the time. Nevertheless, B-Complete took off, thanks to some fantastic results and endorsements - a Blue Diamond Stakes winner was among the horses to have used the product. It wasn’t long before dog breeders and greyhound trainers started to purchase the equine supplement, and this soon resulted in B-Complete for dogs, which is milled to a somewhat finer consistency. So how, exactly, is this relevant to bees? Well, Banana Feeds Australia received a telephone call from a well-known apiary in Tasmania, which had experienced some beneficial effects using green bananas in the bottom of hives (although no-one quite understood why), with a request to provide their product in a powdered form. Trials of the green banana powder were overwhelmingly positive; the apiary used the product on some of their weakest hives, and these subsequently became their best performing colonies. General colony health and strength was enhanced, and chalkbrood eliminated. Similar feedback came from other beekeepers, and so 'Bee-Complete’ powdered supplement became a reality. The product may be sprinkled over the top of frames or used for open feeding. Many apiarists choose to use it as a supplement in the off season, in order to strengthen colonies, but it has proved effective all year round. https://www.bananafeedsaustralia.com/