When Leisa and Tony Sams bought a farm and set about reconnecting bushland that had been divided for a century, they never imagined where it would lead them.
Seven years later, they are producing an award-winning range of pure raw honey infused with flavours including organic ginger, turmeric, lemon myrtle, rose petals, chilli, cinnamon, lavender, finger lime, vanilla beans, truffle, and black garlic.
"We actually started not because of a desire to have a honey business," Ms Sams said.
"We did a Land for Wildlife project on our 300 acres [121 hectares] at Peachester, on the Stanley River, with the goal of revegetating and securing a wildlife corridor from our back ridgeline through to the river.
"With the help of a grant and Sunshine Coast Council's environment officers we sat down and went, 'Let's look at pollination and potentially getting some bees to help with that'."
'Bee Girl' starts a buzz
Ms Sams — also known as "Bee Girl" — started with five hives and now tends to about 400 bee colonies carefully placed on properties from Gympie through to Noosa and the Sunshine Coast to Moreton Bay.
"We wanted to do it differently because we were eating it [the honey] and giving it to our family and friends," she said.
"So we don't use chemicals, we don't heat the honey and it basically grew from there.
"We're bringing the flavours of the Sunshine Coast into our honey.
"Mike, my cousin, was our first customer with a health food shop."
Now their cold fusion products are sold in independent supermarkets, grocers, organic whole food shops, butcheries and Yandina's Ginger Factory, where staff were the first to encourage them to infuse their golden honey with natural flavours.
Food safety key
Certified chemical-free edible flower grower Caz Owens hosts Hum Honey hives on her property at Eudlo and supplies dried organic rose petals and petal mixes to the Samses.
"We love having Leisa's bee girls here at our farm gardens — they are treasures," Ms Owens said.
"With the current situation of bee-killing varroa mites and potential mass loss of hives in Australia, it is critical to ensure we protect our environment."
Extracting the honey cold preserves natural nutrients, vitamins, enzymes, pollen and antioxidants.
No syrups or artificial flavours are used.
"Our honey is bioactive, so even our standard eucalypt honey is full of great nutrients that are effective against bacteria and moulds and yeast," Ms Sams said.
"We also do manuka that we get tested by the Sunshine Coast University Honey Lab."
When asked whether bacteria could be a concern without pasteurisation, Ms Sams said food safety was the first thing she investigated.
"I went to JL Laboratories [an accredited food safety facility] right across the road from the Ginger Factory and did micro-testing," she said.
"We have done all of the shelf-life testing and we do that as a regular part of our quality assurance program."
Love for a 'tough' industry
The Samses are members of the region's Food and Agribusiness Network (FAN) — a not-for-profit industry group that fosters collaboration, innovation and drives trade.
"I have the deepest respect for them," chief executive Emma Greenhatch said.
"It's a tough industry and beekeeping is particularly challenging.
"Yes, they have their role to play as an individual business in sustainability, quality and ethics, but Leisa is always looking at it from an industry perspective and how she can transfer what she's learning to others."
Last year Ms Sams received a prestigious Nuffield Scholarship to investigate advanced management methods for stationary beekeeping operations to improve efficiencies and yield, and recently travelled to the UK to pursue her research.
"It's been a steep learning curve with fire, drought, COVID lockdowns and floods. We have had some highs and lows," Ms Sams said.
"Ultimately you do this for the love of connecting with the environment and the networks within the food industry and the organic farmers. We've created some lasting friendships."
