In Conversation With: Jack Wilson Stone, from Bee One Third

JACK WILSONE STONE

Bee One Third was created by Jack Wilson Stone with the intention of educating Brisbane’s inner city populace on the importance of bees in our global food system and thus, encouraging urban pollinators back into suburbia. Bee One Third is a humming cottage industry business caring for 120 rooftop & urban hives across the South-East corner of Queensland, covering the tip of northern New South Wales for seasonal hive placements. Their day-to-day roles include a variety of maintenance on hive checks, honey extraction, disease control and prevention techniques and wild colony rescue.

VISIT www.beeonethird.com @beeonethird

[T] In 2012 you caught your first bee swarm from a tree at the base of Mount Gravatt. This was the defining moment of BOT. Can you tell us, was this an intentional or accidental discovery? In that moment did you have a vision about starting a bee company in the future? Or was it something that unfolded along the way?

[J] The first swarm I ever caught was by absolute luck, without any knowledge of what was to happen from that moment on. I struggled to house that initial colony of bees, they really tested my patience levels from the get go, mainly due to the raw fact I knew nothing of what I was doing. I was just a city kid with an idea of how to engage my community with where their food came from, and bees became my vector. I had no experience in beekeeping, in fact I knew relatively nothing of the impact that bees have on our day-to-day lives. I was quick to register & formalise a business name and company, Bee One Third Pty Ltd, but I certainly didn’t have a vision of what would come to bee in the years that followed. It wasn’t until 3 months later that we were given the opportunity to place a beehive on the rooftop of a local fashion precinct, the James Street Precinct in Fortitude Valley. In hindsight, this was the moment where I realised the idea may have legs.

Your mantra is ‘From little things, big things grow’. How does this represent your brand and ethos?

Our journey with the bee begun from a small swarm of bees, rescued from the branch of a tree in August 2012, the beginning of springtime. That small colony has now over the course of last 6 years, been a mother colony to 16 of our 120 beehives in and around the city. The hives that came from our first ever mother colony, are started by the beekeeper as a ‘split’ of its mother hive. These small colonies are known as ‘Nucleus’ colonies.

Over the course of the season, the Nucleus colony will gradually expand its foraging range, collecting a broader range of food to fuel & grow the colony in population & size. It is only when the colony is in full health, or at full strength, that they will begin to store any surplus honey that we are able to harvest.

This primary philosophy of from little things, big things grow, has been a excellent way to engage our rooftop partners (predominantly corporate & food industry) on the process of how mother nature works. From the beehives to the honey extraction and bottling house, we’ve seen a dramatic increase of our production of seasonal varietals from the various locations across the East coast. In 2012 our average extraction was around 20-30 kilograms per hive, whereby now in 2018, after years of learning the ropes of management & bee stewardship, we harvest 80 kilograms on average per hive, per year!

You’re passionate about developing an ethical, sustainable and environmentally friendly business. Where does your passion for nature’s pollinators stem from?

My interest in bees & all pollinating insects stems from a food security angle. Since returning from abroad in 2011, and after working on a number of farms conventional and organic in Europe & USA, I was startled by the lack of connection we had here in Australia to the reality & essential truth of our food system. I was observing (through conversation & observation) a frustrating disconnect between the general consumer and the way in which they had an ever-distant view of where their food was coming from and how it was grown.

There is nothing better than seeing the reaction to people engaging with bees for the first time. Often, they don’t know much about the important role bees play in pollinating our food crops, so to be the person who helps them make that link between the farm and their fridge, is quite possibly the best feeling I’ve ever felt.

My goal is to pollinate change.

We understand that you hold beginner workshops. What is your aim for this project and why is it so important that this goal be realised?

Beekeeping is a hobby that in the past has had very little industry support, leaving new and curious beekeepers to learn the hard way, by themselves and from self-selected ‘masters’. I feel I have been lucky enough to be in the position I am in due to the recent rise in popularity of beekeeping, to educate & inform on the best suited methods, equipment, trials & tribulations dependant on the unique and independent position of the individual. My aim for the beginner beekeepers course is to help the attendee grasp an understanding of whether beekeeping is right for them at this stage of their journey. Many seem to believe beekeeping is an easy, set & forget type activity, when in fact it is a highly interactive, high demand activity that requires the application of all senses, a lot of strength (because honey is heavy!), and general & analytical smarts. We as beekeepers should see ourselves as stewards to the bees, as guardians and caretakers to our most vital pollinator.

Based on your knowledge and experience do you feel as though there should be a wider educational platform on the importance of bees in our communities? What would be the first vital piece of information you’d like people to know?

This is a great question. As I write the responses to your questions, I am taking a break from an intensive course held here in Sydney by the Wheen Bee Foundation, as part of the inaugural national bee ambassador program. Together, as a group of 14 bee advocates from all over the country, we have been debating the importance (along with a whole web of ideas) of a national training platform for people hoping to get into bees. From my perspective, this could not be more important at this time of growth within the industry. I want people to know that there are beekeepers out there that can answer your questions, big or small, and if you cannot find one or you’re isolated from these communities, I can answer them & direct you to relevant resources. Never fear attending your local beekeeping association or club to familiarise yourself with bees as insects & learn how to handle bees before you commit to purchasing a beehive. Bees are social creatures, so when you become a beekeeper, you are committing to caring for 50,000 stinging insects – bee cautious & bee caring!

What is the next step for Bee One Third? Where do you see yourself in 5+ years?

We’ve been so blessed with the organic growth over the course of the last 6 years of Bee One Third. We have just revisited the brands visual identity with our branding partners Studio Gangplank (BNE), allowing us to confidently leap into the next phase of distribution and impact through our retail product lines. We are building our resources up to cater to higher production, higher pollination impact & wider distribution of our gorgeous & delicious neighbourhood honey. Life & business can throw you curve balls every now and then, however in a perfect world, we will be managing a total of 350 beehives in our portfolio across South East QLD and Northern NSW, producing in excess of 40 tons of single source, raw neighbourhood honey, build on our already exciting and diverse range of services and product, while contributing in which ever way we can to Australia’s 14 billion dollar ‘bee dependent’ pollination industry.

As the Wheen Bee Foundation puts it so nicely,

Food Security needs Bee Security.

I believe, without bees, our food system will go bust.