Deborah McLaughlin 'honoured' by Honey Thief small business award nomination

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Owner Deborah McLaughlin said it was an honour to be nominated as a finalist.

"Their focus is on recognizing Australian women living their values every day," she said.

"I received an email that said 'congratulations. You're a finalist in the fresh food category.

"The national presentation is at the Star in Sydney in November.

"I've got tickets for that, which is exciting."

Deborah said her focus for the Honey Thief was sustainability, responsible production, and slow living.

"That's how we go about producing our food," she said.

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"We have a traditional approach to food production. We are small batch producers, and we're creating our products by hand.

"We're hand labelling, hand stirring, and pouring. Everything in the shop is handcrafted. If it's not handcrafted by us, we will support local artisans."

While maintaining a sustainable practice, Deborah said the last few years have been tough due to droughts, bushfires, rain and floods.

"We've been conscious of that. Our priority is that we're mindful of the hive health and the health of the bees," she said.

"We've moved our hives further out of the area.

"It's difficult in the Highlands with all the rain to be able to sustain the supply."

Adding to the already tough conditions beekeepers are facing, is the lack of bee swarms due to the wet weather.

"There are no swarms yet," she said.

"I know they're happening elsewhere. I know they're getting some swarms in the Illawarra because I'm following what they're doing closely, but there's no swarm in the Highlands.

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"This time last year I was getting a swarm call at least once a week, and that hasn't happened at all.

"So the base is still in a winter state. I'm not sure when they're going to come out.

"It's just a case of when the sun comes out."

Deborah said she's been transparent with outsourcing honey.

"I've now got on my label that the pollen and nectar are sourced from Gundungurra Country.

"The challenge here is the amount of moisture that's currently on the flowers. The bees have to work extra hard to remove the moisture from the pollen and nectar.

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"Honey in its natural state doesn't go off. It doesn't expire. That's because there's a low percentage of moisture in the honey, and that inhibits the growth of bacteria.

"They have to work extra hard to get the honey level or the moisture level to the right amount to be able to produce the honey."

Deborah said the challenge she and other beekeepers now faced was the "persistent rain".

We haven't had yields as we used for a long time," she said.

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We used to yield 60 kilograms or higher, and we haven't had yields like that since 2018. It's much less now.

"Our award-winning honey, the Mt Gibraltar dark honey, hasn't been available in years.

"It is devastating because it's such incredible honey. It's got the most amazing taste."

Despite the challenges, Deborah remains optimistic.

"We hope to continue to engage passionate people dedicated to change and create products that have a positive impact," she said.

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