Tasman Honey...sweet as

For husband-and-wife team Ian Kingston and Sandra Jackson, the creation of Tasman Honey was more of an accident than a plan.

It all started in 2005 when Ian was running his earth-moving business and discovered a bee hive on the job.

“I came home and said to my wife, ‘I’ve found this beehive, and it doesn’t look like anyone owns it, we’ll have to move it’ and that was it, that was the beginning of what we do now,” Ian said, adding that they soon branched into more hives.

Although Sandra’s had a family history of beekeeping, Ian had little knowledge of bees at the time.

Thankfully, they found support from local beekeepers, including The Honey Pot in the Huon Valley which was invaluable as they started up their business Tasman Honey.

Based on a property in Murdunna on the Tasman Peninsula, Tasman Honey grew quickly and up until a few years ago they had around 800 hives distributed across the south of the state.

Today, they’ve scaled back slightly to around 500 hives, allowing them to maintain a high level of care in their honey production.

“We take a lot of care with how we produce our honey,” Ian said.

“It’s very sought after, we’ve had people from all over the world emailing us for honey.”

Ian said that sometimes the cost of shipping overseas is pricier than the honey but customers will still pay for it.

In addition to honey production, Ian and Sandra are also involved in crop pollination, including for carrots, fennel, broccoli, and various seed crops locally.

In total, Tasman Honey produces 12 different types of honey, each showcasing different flora and fauna. Looking around their shop, visitors can find honey from most of Tasman’s regions, including Murdunna, Koonya and Port Arthur.

Their leatherwood honey comes from the Hartz Mountains, while manuka honey is sourced from areas like Salt Water River and Roaring Beach. They also produce honey from black gumtrees in Murdunna and prickly box honey from locations like Primrose Sands and Dunalley. 

They also make a honey out of some of those crops including the “meadow” honey which is made during carrot pollination.

“Every plant determines the flavour of the nectar,” Ian said, adding that the flavours change each year based on the flora and fauna and what is doing well that year.

The amount of honey they produce varies depending on the seaons. In good years they can harvest anywhere up to 12 tonnes, while in lower seasons they may collect as little at 900kg.