DiscoverBees With BenEpisode 112: Michael Colvin, High Meadow Honey, NSW.
Episode 112: Michael Colvin, High Meadow Honey, NSW.

Episode 112: Michael Colvin, High Meadow Honey, NSW.

Update: 2023-05-26
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This week’s episode of the Bees with Ben podcast features Michael Colvin of ‘High Meadow’.


Michael was born and bred in Guyra, on top of the Great Dividing Range in the New England region


of NSW. He was raised on a fine wool property near the small town of Wards Mistake, and has a


passion for regenerative agriculture, having managed organic beef and sheep enterprises. Michael


also loves his bees and is the President of the New England branch of the Amateur Beekeepers


Association. For the last 12 years, Michael has been employed in a full-time capacity as a fencer;


about 6 months ago he purchased a small excavator in order to diversify somewhat. About 3 or 4


years back, he also started up a small business selling local ‘cold country’ honey. High Meadow is


actually the family farm situated near Guyra at an altitude of 1300 m above sea level, which results


in mild summers and cool winters. The business produces raw, unfiltered honey from chemical free


hives located on selected sites across the Northern Tablelands from Dorrigo in the east to Inverell in


the west. The High Meadow website, highmeadow.com.au, explains that the bees are only kept on


sites where the land managers practice chemical free, regenerative agriculture. High Meadow honey


is harvested during a limited season and is said to have a truly local flavour and pollen profile. It is


cold extracted, raw and unfiltered to preserve the delicate aromas and enzymes, as well as the


natural yeasts and pollens.


Michael describes his location as being ‘a little north of halfway between Brisbane and Sydney and


about two-and-a-half hours’ inland from Coffs Harbour’. He says he currently maintains just under


50 hives and had an awesome season last spring and summer, with a yield of about 16 kg per 8


frames. Guyra is notable for having the highest caravan park in Australia, and routinely gets a couple


of inches of snow in winter. Michael says it’s not easy to keep bees in this area because there is such


a short warm season; from Christmas onwards this necessitates making sure the bees have enough


supplies to get them through to next spring. Once the queen starts laying in spring, the advent of a


cold snap can see a hive run through a full box of honey within 2-3 weeks. The bulk of Michael’s bees


are therefore now located at a site which is around 6 degrees warmer, where they cruise through


winter without a problem.


Michael tells us that he has not been directly impacted by the varroa mite incursion in northern


NSW; in the first couple of weeks after the mites were identified he travelled to Newcastle and spent


4 days working as a volunteer inspecting hives. He says he had a great time and met a lot of


interesting people. He also relays that to date it is estimated that just over 2,100 volunteers have


contributed the equivalent of 47 years of hours worked towards controlling the outbreak. Michael is


quietly confident that we will eventually eliminate the mites; he’s got a ‘good feeling that we will get


round it’.


When asked about his aspirations for the business, Michael replies that he would like to build it up


to the point where he no longer has to fence; he says that he doesn’t want to go too quick, as he


doesn’t want to sell bulk honey if possible. He and his partner Alison, a Research Fellow at the


University of New England, do everything themselves (Alison loves the business side of the


enterprise) and they are gaining some good traction locally. Last weekend they went to Moree to


attend a festival, where they had a great reception and picked up another stockist for their products.


In fact, the highmeadow.com.au website lists a dozen stockists across the New England region.


Runny honey, creamed honey, honeycomb and pure beeswax may also be purchased online from


the website.




https://www.highmeadow.com.au/

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Episode 112: Michael Colvin, High Meadow Honey, NSW.

Episode 112: Michael Colvin, High Meadow Honey, NSW.

Ben