Two hives on Larnoo, a working property in the ranges north of Melbourne
near Ghin Ghin. The land sits in the Yea River corridor — open farmland
running into creek lines, with native stringybark and box–ironbark bush
climbing the ridge behind the house.
It's good foraging country. The bees have open pasture, creek vegetation,
and a belt of native bush all within range. What ends up in the jar reflects
the season and what's flowering — each pull is different.
The operation is small and deliberate. Brood checks, seasonal records,
attention to colony health. The intention is to expand slowly as the
colonies build strength — quality over volume.
The honey
Raw and unfiltered. Strained by hand through coarse mesh — enough to
remove the wax and debris, nothing more. What the bees made is what
ends up in the jar.
Most honey on supermarket shelves has been heated, ultra-filtered, and
in many cases produced by colonies fed on sugar syrup rather than forage.
The result is a shelf-stable, visually consistent product that bears
little resemblance to what bees actually make when left to work real country.
The flavour varies by season. Spring honey tends to be lighter and more
floral — the bees are working wattle and native shrubs as they come out
of winter. Summer draws on a broader range and the result is deeper,
more complex, harder to pin down.
Supply is limited by the nature of the operation. Two hives don't produce
large volumes. When a batch is gone it's gone — the next pull depends on
the season and the colony.
The country around Larnoo — river flats, hills, and high country.
The country
Larnoo sits in the Yea River corridor — open country between the ranges
and the river flats, with red gums along the creek line and stringybark
bush running up the ridge. The Goulburn winds through the landscape to
the east.
The seasons here are distinct. Cold winters, warm summers, and a succession
of flowering through spring and autumn that the bees track with more precision
than any calendar. The honey is a record of that — what was open, what was
worth flying to, what the season had to offer.
