Backyard Honey’s raw, local, multi-floral and varietal honey is hand-harvested, unheated, cold extracted and permeated with local pollens. It retains all the beneficial nutritional and medicinal properties often lost in pasteurised commercial honey. Each harvest’s colour, smell and consistency may be a little different as the foraging of bees is neither within the apiarist’s control nor inclination. Some harvests may crystallise, which simply means that the bees have gathered pollens more likely to turn the honey solid. If you prefer a liquid honey, gently warm the crystallised honey on a sunny windowsill or in a warm bowl of water, remembering that temperatures higher than 40°C will reduce the honey’s therapeutic properties.

The Backyard Honey ethos is simply to provide an effective and efficient service to ensure sustainable, healthy and mindful communities.

Backyard Honey beekeepers are qualified to provide apiary incursions to complement education programmes and have worked with many schools and Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden programmes. Their bee incursions are tailored to complement and/or extend the curriculum and include a fully enclosed perspex beehive, apiary equipment, bee suits, wax and propolis and pure, raw, unheated honey tastings. Backyard Honey incursions provide a catalyst for enquiry-based learning across the curriculum for both young and old. Phone them to discover more.

Read an interview with erstwhile owner Peter Dyer.

Located on a scenic hillside with a beautiful view, Belleview Farm is a small boutique farm selling free range eggs. Their birds are raised and tendered to on the farm and Belleview Farm takes pride in their welfare. They ensure that the birds are fed a nutritious, vitamin-enriched diet including seeds, grains and canola. The farm is pesticide-free and chemical-free.

Benny’s Berries are well known for their fresh strawberries. In addition, their jams include blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, mixed berry and spiced fig with pear and walnut. These jams are cooked in small batches ensuring minimal cooking times, enhancing the fullest flavours and colours. They are made from a traditional classic family recipe using all natural ingredients sourced from the Yarra Valley. The philosophy is to keep it simple (only 3 ingredients are used) and natural, the way our grandmas use to make it.