By Cameron Tait
Even when he was growing up in England, Footscray’s Lyndon Fenlon was interested in tracing things back to their source.
Fascinated by bees for as long as he can remember, he found they were a way for him to get in touch with his new environment when he first arrived in Australia.
Ten years ago, he had a vision of creating a network of honey-producing hubs and turning them into a sustainable business.
So Fenlon established Urban Honey Co, adopting a practice that has been happening around the world for more than a century – city beekeeping.
Believing people should be able to source honey from within three kilometres of where they live, he formed partnerships, including one with Braybrook’s Quang Minh Temple, where he tends several hives.
Today, he continues to deliver the honey produced from local hives in his own rickshaw, while passing on his beekeeping knowledge to the next generation of beekeepers at workshops.
At his peak, he had 55 hives in his suburban backyard, but eventually he hopes to reduce it to 12.
“My definition of local honey is honey that’s produced and sold within a bee’s flying distance,” he said.
“Traditional beekeeping was not done
en masse as it is today – it was done on a small scale in monasteries by monks … for centuries people got their honey from the local beekeeper.
“At first, some retailers couldn’t understand why I didn’t deliver any honey for two months, but now they realise it runs out and that it’s only delivered when it’s produced by the bees – it’s not stockpiled.
“The nicest e-mail I’ve received was from a guy in America who asked if he could copy what I do, even down to making deliveries on a bike. He thanked me on his blog.
“I’ve trained more than a couple of hundred beekeepers at free community workshops and the money I make from honey just about pays the rent. This year, I’ll be giving it all to bee research.”
For more information, e-mail mail@urbanhoneyco.com
