A job that will keep you buzzing

If you love bees, and honey, here is a job idea for you.

Tasmanian Beekeepers Association chief Lindsay Bourke is calling on young Australians to consider beekeeping as a career.

Bourke says the beekeeping industry nationally is facing a rapidly ageing workforce and is struggling to attract young people.

“Beekeeping is a great career for people who like to work with their hands outdoors and be creative," he says..

“There is so much to producing honey, especially Leatherwood Honey, it involves caring for the bees, ensuring they are healthy and happy., maintaining the hives, extracting the honey and packaging it for sale.”

Bourke said that in addition to the agricultural side of the profession, beekeeping involves marketing, sales, accounting, public relations and general management, making for the potential for career progression.

Bourke says Australia as a nation desperately needs beekeepers to feed itself.

“Australian agriculture needs bees for crop pollination and without them we run the risk of starving, it’s as serious as that," he says. "So without beekeepers Australia is in a really bad situation.

“That’s a huge reason for young people to consider beekeeping as a profession.”

See https://www.tasmanianbeekeepers.org.au/ and https://leatherwoodhoney.org.au/

Image: Young beekeepers Ange Grabasch and Taiha Jones-Webb with Lindsay Bourke