Episode 112: Michael Colvin, High Meadow Honey, NSW.

This week’s episode of the Bees with Ben podcast features Michael Colvin of ‘High Meadow’. Michael was born and bred in Guyra, on top of the Great Dividing Range in the New England region of NSW. He was raised on a fine wool property near the small town of Wards Mistake, and has a passion for regenerative agriculture, having managed organic beef and sheep enterprises. Michael also loves his bees and is the President of the New England branch of the Amateur Beekeepers Association. For the last 12 years, Michael has been employed in a full-time capacity as a fencer; about 6 months ago he purchased a small excavator in order to diversify somewhat. About 3 or 4 years back, he also started up a small business selling local ‘cold country’ honey. High Meadow is actually the family farm situated near Guyra at an altitude of 1300 m above sea level, which results in mild summers and cool winters. The business produces raw, unfiltered honey from chemical free hives located on selected sites across the Northern Tablelands from Dorrigo in the east to Inverell in the west. The High Meadow website, highmeadow.com.au, explains that the bees are only kept on sites where the land managers practice chemical free, regenerative agriculture. High Meadow honey is harvested during a limited season and is said to have a truly local flavour and pollen profile. It is cold extracted, raw and unfiltered to preserve the delicate aromas and enzymes, as well as the natural yeasts and pollens. Michael describes his location as being ‘a little north of halfway between Brisbane and Sydney and about two-and-a-half hours’ inland from Coffs Harbour’. He says he currently maintains just under 50 hives and had an awesome season last spring and summer, with a yield of about 16 kg per 8 frames. Guyra is notable for having the highest caravan park in Australia, and routinely gets a couple of inches of snow in winter. Michael says it’s not easy to keep bees in this area because there is such a short warm season; from Christmas onwards this necessitates making sure the bees have enough supplies to get them through to next spring. Once the queen starts laying in spring, the advent of a cold snap can see a hive run through a full box of honey within 2-3 weeks. The bulk of Michael’s bees are therefore now located at a site which is around 6 degrees warmer, where they cruise through winter without a problem. Michael tells us that he has not been directly impacted by the varroa mite incursion in northern NSW; in the first couple of weeks after the mites were identified he travelled to Newcastle and spent 4 days working as a volunteer inspecting hives. He says he had a great time and met a lot of interesting people. He also relays that to date it is estimated that just over 2,100 volunteers have contributed the equivalent of 47 years of hours worked towards controlling the outbreak. Michael is quietly confident that we will eventually eliminate the mites; he’s got a ‘good feeling that we will get round it’. When asked about his aspirations for the business, Michael replies that he would like to build it up to the point where he no longer has to fence; he says that he doesn’t want to go too quick, as he doesn’t want to sell bulk honey if possible. He and his partner Alison, a Research Fellow at the University of New England, do everything themselves (Alison loves the business side of the enterprise) and they are gaining some good traction locally. Last weekend they went to Moree to attend a festival, where they had a great reception and picked up another stockist for their products. In fact, the highmeadow.com.au website lists a dozen stockists across the New England region. Runny honey, creamed honey, honeycomb and pure beeswax may also be purchased online from the website. https://www.highmeadow.com.au/