Philip HOPKINS
BEN Murphy had become a pretty experienced beekeeper when he got the chance to not only buy a honey business, but also to push that business in a new direction. He took on the challenge.
Thus, Tambo Valley Honey in Bruthen was born – a retail outlet not just for the honey that Ben collects, but a haven that celebrates all things honey, from merchandise to the sweet aromas of honey-flavoured dishes emanating from the café’s kitchen. Quirky little facts about bees adorn the walls.
Ben, with no experience in the industry, had become a beekeeper in 2012 in his early 20s. He’d spent the previous seven years as a butcher, having left school early, but he wanted a change. Then a job became available as a beekeeper with veteran Ian Cane’s honey business in Bruthen.
“I was sick of being stuck indoors all the time, it looked like an opportunity to see the countryside. I took it on, with no background. I’d never been stung, didn’t know whether I was allergic to bees,” he said.
“It took three days for me to get my first ever bee sting and it didn’t look like things were going to last real long. I got stung on my right hand. It swelled right up past my elbow, much to the concern of my wife Stacey, who made sure that we outlined the swollen area every few hours so we could keep track of how bad it was getting. In hindsight, I think we just did this to trick ourselves into thinking that we were doing the right thing! Luckily things got a little better from that first ever sting.”
Ben worked full-time under Ian Cane.
“Ian has a wealth of knowledge, a third-generation beekeeper, respected for what he has done for the beekeeping industry. I was happy to learn my craft under him,” he said.
Ben worked for Ian for six years before the opportunity arose to buy the business off him, eventually doing so in 2018.
“It was a big step. Six years’ beekeeping experience was probably not enough, taking over 1200 hives at the time. I took it on with Ian by my side; he’s still a mentor, helps me a lot,” Ben said.
“Ian ran a good operation, not a lot needed to be changed or altered, it was a well-oiled machine. But I wanted to put my own stamp on the business and take it in a different direction,” he said.
He was inspired partly by Beechworth Honey, which ran a retail outlet in the town. Also, his parents, bakers and pastry cooks, had started a bakery in Bruthen in 1996. But it was the boutique Sailors Grave Brewery in Orbost that planted the seed of the idea.
“We went to their property to have a look and put some bees on their property, between Malo and Cape Conran. We were chatting about their brewery plans, we wanted to do a honey shop – and they pointed us in the right direction to help us build that. It may not have happened if we’d not gone there. We always had plans, but they were fast-tracked because of that day,” he said.
Paradoxically, it was also the terrible 2019/20 bushfires and the COVID-19 lockdowns that helped.
“One of the good things out of the pandemic was, it helped push local produce. We realised there was an opportunity, it was a big risk to take, to push our business in a different direction.”
Ben said during the bushfires, they worked together with three other local businesses – Gippsland Jersey, Seasalt Sourdough Bakery in Swan Reach, and Forge Creek Free Range – in the collaborative box phenomenon.
Generous people all over Australia and the world who were desperate to support, help and donate to people affected by bushfire could do something really personal and meaningful. The produce box was bought (paying each business for the cost of goods), then were delivered all over East Gippsland to families in need, or who had properties destroyed.
“It was a ‘win-win’ for everyone involved. From there, the business grew – it took off from that moment. We were not set up for mail order at the time; that developed after we got the shop all set up,” he said.
Ben and Stacey were the owner builders. A ‘hobby architect’, Ben did the design and layout for the shop, which was hand-built with exposed beams in the ceiling. The shelves were made from old fencing, while the polished benchtops were made from old slabs of Australian wormy chestnut.
Ben said the shop had come out of the collaborative approach.
“We saw the benefits of collaborating, moving the product, but it created a lot of new friendships. Being able to liaise with others really benefited us, not just by selling through the shop, but we have a support network around us now. That’s huge for us as a young couple with a family,” he said.
“What better way to promote our region by using our product with as many other Gippsland businesses as we can.”
For example, Tambo Valley works a lot with Nicholson River Soaps in Bairnsdale.
“They do our honey soaps and lip balms, moisturisers using our honey and wax. That pushes the brands further – both our labels are on the product. People can see two business are involved with this,” he said.
Tambo Valley also does a lot of gins and beers. The café – which features a small beehive for company – tries to use honey in every single dish. There’s honey cake, sauce, sausages, cheesecake, tart, date and honey loaves – and the supreme honey ice cream with Gippsland Jersey cream.
The chef, Sam Mahlook, uses up to 16 different varieties of honey.
“They lend themselves to different dishes. I try to use them in ways that suit their flavour profile.
I’m from Lakes Entrance, so a lot of my cooking is sea-food-based, that’s how I’ve grown up as a chef, and the honey I love to use with seafood is Banksia honey, it’s a really coastal honey, a salty briny flavour,” she said.
Work life can be adventurous.
“Cooking with honey in the kitchen, and the door is open, the bees will come in because they can smell the honey,” Sam said.
Ben the beekeeper spends little time in the shop; he is out in the field.
“The key is knowing how to read a hive, judge a hive, know if something is wrong, and be on to it before production levels drop down,” he said.
“Reading the hive is probably number one, equal with reading the bush, knowing where to go to take your bees before the flower cycle kicks into gear.”
Tambo Valley has 1000 hives at the moment. The size varies.
“The ‘wow’ factor is up to 60,000 bees in a hive at peak production and at the peak time of the year,” Ben said.
“We travel predominantly in East Gippsland. We always start the season in the Mallee for the almond pollination for a month,” he said, including canola pollination – canola farms that honey production and pollination at the same time.
Honey collection depends on the season.
“It’s all to do with weather patterns. When that’s finished, it’s normally warm enough to bring the bees home. Mono-floral eucalypts dominate for most of the rest of the season.”
Hives are sometimes placed not purely for honey production, but also for breeding. In honey production, once a box is full, “we take the surplus honey from the bees, they are always left with honey”.
“They have to eat. Most of the time, 95 per cent of the time, they are sitting on 20 kilograms of honey – surplus honey for them.”
Ben said there was still much to learn.
“There are seasons where nothing much is happening; there are the seasons I’ve got to get better at. They’re the seasons the really good beekeepers excel in, they can find the honey when no one else can,” he said.
“I spend a lot of time spent on the road and walking the bush and looking for stands of trees that are about to flower. It can be time-consuming. Ian Cane – I don’t know anyone who is as good at it in our area. There is no one as good as him.”
Bees are only transported at night when they are calm.
The shop aims to have at least 10 honey varieties available in store at all times. Depending on the season, it can have up to 14-16 varieties.
“That’s as much as our packing shed can handle. We have a good mailing business; we put a lot of thought into it. The staff are exceptional, most are from Bruthen,” he said.
“We have 15 staff, 12 from Bruthen, which has 800 people – that’s a pretty good effort. They are all invested; they have a small-town passion and want to see a business do well.”
