PODCAST EPISODE 53: Luke De Laeter, qualified beekeeper and entrepreneur, Buzz Ed, Perth, Western Australia

PODCAST EPISODE 53: Luke De Laeter, qualified beekeeper and entrepreneur, Buzz Ed, Perth, Western Australia I always knew I loved bees, right from the moment I found a wild bee nest down at the creek in the bush near my parents’ place. It was a fast realisation – yes, love at first sight. But, for me, it was a slow trajectory into beekeeping, first as a hobby and then a profession. Although I have no regrets about the various paths I took, and my time pursuing cheffing among other things before entering beekeeping fulltime, I am always kind of in awe of those people who find bees early on and then just wholeheartedly move into beekeeping as a career. That kind of knowing yourself enough to follow your heart is totally admirable to me. Perhaps it’s just realising that the more time spent with bees in one’s life, the better! For this reason, I am delighted to introduce Luke De Laeter from Buzz Ed Australia to the BEES WITH BEN beekeeping podcast for episode 53 – the youngest BWB podcast guest to date! I met Luke just before COVID hit on a trip to Tasmania – he was part of the Tasmanian Junior Beekeeping Group. I knew at the time that I had met a special fellow – he is a bright and skilled young person with a fantastic attitude. Luke’s story is one of those passionate tales of following your heart when you find what makes you tick in life. His parents bought him a beehive when he was just 14, and he loved these new creatures so very much that he set up his first business, Luke’s Bees. A year later he started to do bee education and going into schools doing talks about the importance of bees, what they do and make, and how they help humans and the planet. Today, he is almost (and only) 19 and works full time with a commercial beekeeper during the busy bee-happy months of the year; in the slower, cooler months, you will find Luke educating kids about the importance of bees – the world’s number 1 pollinator – through his very own business Buzz Ed, which launched this year. Despite his youth, he has been to over 100 schools and talked to over 10,000 students! What a total inspiration! I would recommend Luke and his services to any teacher, parent, community group or organisation who wants their kids to understand the important role bees play in the sustainability of the planet. Tune in to hear Luke and I chat about his journey to beekeeping, finding your passion at a young age, and his fantastic business Buzz Ed  https://www.buzzedaustralia.com