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Island Beehive
Featuring: Organic Ligurian Honey
Contact: Peter Davis
Location: Main Road, Kingscote
Telephone: (08) 8553 0080
Website: www.island-beehive.com.au
Anyone vaguely interested in bees and honey must
visit the Island Beehive on the outskirts of Kingscote.
Kangaroo Island boasts the only remaining colony
of pure bred Ligurian bees, and the honey they produce is considered
among the best in the world. Introduced from Italy in 1884, the
species has remained totally isolated after local regulators had
the foresight to ban the entry of any other bees and honey products.
The Island Beehive visitor centre, opened in 2005,
provides a fascinating insight into the history of Ligurian bees
and their complex lifecycle, and visitors can also watch the honey
being harvested. Of course, no visit would be complete without
some tasting – and the beehive has plenty on offer. The
centre is operated by Peter and Louise Davis, the founders of
Kangaroo Island Organic Honey – one of the first and among
the largest organic honey producers in Australia.
The company processes more than 100 tonnes of honey
every year from hives on the island, and there is a growing overseas
market for this pure, organic, Ligurian bee honey. An abundance
of Australian flowers, shrubs and trees, including 30 species
of flowering eucalypts, result in a unique range of strikingly
different honeys that are available all year. Because of the island’s
pristine air, temperate climate and natural environment, the quality
is unsurpassed. All honey is extracted under the stringent certification
guidelines of the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture
Australia (NASAA).
The Island Beehive has been specially designed to
cater for coach tours and groups, and there is good access for
the disabled. Coach parties can set up their own catering under
cover, and there is a shop and café next to the information
centre and honey factory.
All visitors must abide by the ban on bringing bees
or honey to the island. Even a discarded honey jar could cause
irreversible damage to a unique honey industry.
From Emu Bay to American River can be found
some of the Islands premier food producers. The sheep milk dairy
at Island Pure offers visitors
the opportunity to observe milking, cheese production, tastings
and sales. Ferguson
Australia produces some of the world’s finest lobster
and prawn products. At their holding shed in Kingscote you can
view live king crabs, lobster and if your lucky some creatures
just for the kids.
Kangaroo Island Ligurian
Honey’s processing factory and Fryar’s
Kangaroo Island Free Range Egg Farm, which produces 19,000
eggs per day are also located in this area.
The towns of Kingscote and American River offer
many accommodation and dining options with picturesque locations
on the waters edge. Don’t miss the wonderful views around
Bay of Shoals winery, just
behind Kingscote.
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