Deborah McLaughlin knows a thing or two about bees.
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A bee-keeper and The Honey Thief store owner, Deborah is celebrating the "crucial" importance of bees on World Bee Day on May 20.
"There's a lot of interest in beekeeping," Deborah told the Southern Highland News.
"It's one of the fastest-growing hobbies.
"Bees are crucial and prolific pollinators that play an important role in our environment.
"They're responsible for pollinating 70 out of 100 of our crops which is 90 per cent of the world's food source.
"They're also responsible for the textile industry and pollinate cotton flower and flax which is used for linen."
Despite the huge impact that bees have on the environment, they are often under threat.
Deborah said one of the biggest issues was the use of pesticides.
"They're sprayed extensively," she said.
"There needs to be a shift away from that practice, with people choosing organic food and organic cotton.
"It inadvertently affects the eco-system."
Another threat to bees is the current El-Nina weather pattern, which has brought constant rain to the east coast of Australia.
"It's just as terrible as the drought," Deborah says of the constant rain.
"The water washes away the pollen and nectar and the flowers smell different to the bees."
The poor weather conditions have also meant a reduction in honey harvest for Deborah.
"We haven't harvested all season from Bowral," she said,
"There's only enough honey to get through the winter but we have harvested from our hives in Berrima, Canyonleigh and Bundanoon.
"We use to get 20 or 40 kilos when we first harvested 10 years ago, now we're lucky to get half of that because of the drought, bushfires, and floods."
Despite a challenging few years harvesting honey, Deborah opened her new store 'The Honey Thief' last July.
"It really picked up in October last year when everything opened up," she said.
"Now we're open six days a week and close on Tuesdays.
"I was at local markets for six years and wanted a change. The store came up at The Acre, it's small but perfect for a first retail store."
As for tips to help the bees, Deborah recommends planting lavender, rosemary, salvia and catnip to attract the bees.
"Bees can see in ultraviolet," she said.
"So purple and blue flowers are bee-friendly."
She also recommended letting herbs seed as well as providing a bee habitat away from the house.
To celebrate World Bee Day, Deborah and her store, The Honey Thief, invite everyone to dress up in a bee theme on May 20 and May 21, with honey pops handed out to anyone who does.
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