The sweet taste of local honey
Chevra Honey aims to make local beekeeping a sweeter endeavour by managing a number of backyard beehives, making raw, local honey readily accessible.
Chevra Honey began in 2015 when five lifelong friends, Jonathan Landes, Danny Mac, Danny Erlich, Raffi Feldman and Eli Grosmas, embraced the experience of establishing bee colonies in the suburbs. Wanting to share this passion with others, they began to establish community beehives in suburban backyards and have expanded across Melbourne and Victoria.
Chevra Honey has now become a beekeeping collective that establishes and manages beehives in people’s backyards, currently managing around 30 hosted hives from Caulfield to Red Hill. The harvest of these local beehives by the “local urban beekeepers” provides jars of kosher raw honey that can be purchased by the community.
Landes, 66, says that the group has found beekeeping to be a great way to commemorate their closeness and interest in the community that has spanned over 50 years.
“Many of us are worried about leaving a better place for our children and grandchildren, and Chevra Honey has a good message and ethos. We have always been about helping and giving, and this is another way.
“We also are fortunate to secure a hechsher allowing observant Jewish customers to support our honey knowing that it is kosher.”
Currently, Chevra Honey’s industrious bees create enough liquid gold to fill a wide range of glass honey jar sizes, from 100 gram jars up to 1 kilogram jars, which can be bought online and delivered (for free within five kilometres of the Chevra Honey studio in Caulfield North), or found at Moses Foods at the South Melbourne market. Gift boxes, and in particular ones created especially for the upcoming chag of Rosh Hashanah, are also available from the website.
For individuals interested in hosting a beehive in their backyard, courses by Jonathan and his team are on offer, providing knowledge and training on a range of topics including basic beekeeping, Melbourne’s flora and fauna, beehive tours and how to build beehives. The Chevra Honey website offers information on the best “bee-friendly” plants to make your garden more environmentally diverse and attractive to bees, including apricot glow and red sunset plants.
For Jonathan and his team, their aspirations for Chevra Honey is to “reach out to people in our community and beyond, and leave a better future”.
Chevra Honey can be purchased from chevrahoney.com.au, or by visiting the garden shop at 45 Northcote Avenue, Caulfield North.
Further wholesale inquiries and hive hosting opportunities are available by emailing chevrahoney@gmail.com
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