Our Bees
“At Mason Brothers' Honey we are always striving to maintain the welfare of our bees”
Looking after our bees
The bees are the heart and soul of our business and their welfare always comes first. Honey bees (apis mellifera) are one of the last and least domesticated farmed animals. This can make bees especially challenging to care for; however as beekeepers we relish this challenge.
At Mason Brothers Honey we leave at least 20-30 kg of honey on each hive at the end of the honey flow
(spring-summer period) this means the hives have enough nutritious honey to sustain them through winter.
We also ensure all our beehives are placed in apiaries where the bees have access to a vast array of spring pollen sources eliminating the need for less nutritious artificial substitutes. You can see the health and vibrancy of the hives in many of our photos.
Sustainable Beekeeping
We believe in supporting biodiversity and ecological resilience: our beekeeping recognizes the importance of bees and other pollinators to ecosystems and biodiversity. We endeavour to promote the conservation and restoration of natural habitats and ecosystems.
This is done through planting of native trees on our own block, maintaining sustainable stocking rates of hives and recommending the restoration of ecosystems to our farmers.
Healthy hives placed in areas with rich biodiversity will readily collect all their pollen and honey needs.
A healthy queen bee can live up to 7 years and lay 2000 eggs per day as the hive grows!
Apiaries are best situated in sunny spots with shelter from the wind to give the bees the best head start.
