A West Australian honey producer is planting thousands of native trees on privately owned farmland to boost the production of bacteria-fighting honey.
It's good news for Australia's bee industry, which has spent millions of dollars battling the spread of the destructive varroa mite across the eastern states.
Damian Green runs a startup business in the WA Wheatbelt region, using native Leptospermum trees to generate Manuka honey — known for its anti-bacterial properties and use on external wounds.
The York resident is working with local farmers to plant the trees, which he says generate some of the strongest active honey in the world.
"The mother trees where we get the seeds from come from around Merredin and Tammin, and we thought if it grows up there, it can grow anywhere," he said.
"We've got up to 30,000 trees on some plantations now.
"The farms pay for the planting of the trees, but then we do the work as far as watering over the first two summers and the slashing of the weeds."
Mr Green says the Leptospermum trees take about five years to properly flower before they start to help in the generation of Manuka honey.
Farmers then take a 30 per cent share of profits derived from the trees on their properties.
Wheatbelt grain and sheep farmer Wayne Collins planted 20,000 trees on his property four years ago at a cost of about $15,000.
He's still waiting for a return on that investment — but is confident the honey will make some money once the trees begin to flower.
"The trees are really just starting to hit their straps now," Mr Collins said.
"We've seen small amounts, but knowing what Damian's done with various planting operations, I think in the next two to three years, we'll really start to see the operation get going."
Mr Collins says the trees have benefits beyond honey production.
"We're able to use some non-arable country that really wouldn't be useful for any other production," he said.
"But the bees brought here by the Leptospermum's help with the pollination of our other crops."
'Winner' in WA Climate
Liz Barbour is an adjunct research fellow at the University of Western Australia and was formerly chief executive of the federal government-funded Cooperative Research Centre for honey bee products.
One of the main focuses of the centre was to assist in the growth of the Manuka honey industry, which Dr Barbour says provides real medicinal benefits.
"Honey has multiple positive effects for healing," she said.
"It's got such a high content of sugar. If you put honey onto a wound, it actually draws all this moisture from the honey and has an anti-bacterial activity.
"We've got this worrying growth in antibiotic resistance, so anything we can use as an alternative to antibiotics is a really good thing."
Dr Barbour concedes more research is needed in the medical honey space but says the WA Wheatbelt is the ideal place to start.
"There's a lot of research still going on to deliver a quality product to the market," she said.
"Damian's really picked a winner for the WA climate … what I've really liked about his work is he actually has put out a lot of small plots, so he's really been testing all soil types and conditions to see what's the best to grow," she said.
Honey bee centre
Mr Green is also planning to build an interactive educational facility in York to teach locals and tourists about the bee industry — an idea supported by Dr Barbour.
"[Damian's] going to combine the science with all the honey products, she said.
"So we've been talking with him about how we can help him in delivering a real tourist and educational centre in York,"
Mr Green currently exports most of his products to customers in Asia, but he expects export volumes to soar as the planted trees hit full flower.
"The next five years is about ramping up production and getting the honey to export quality," he said.
"This honey, you don't put on your toast because of the value of it."
