Collins Honey founder Norm Collins bought his first beehives in 1955 when he was 10 years old. His father Norman, noticing his son’s fascination with bees and honey, helped Norm acquire those first two hives. That fatherly attention quickly became a successful family business. By the time he was 18, Norm had 300 beehives in the Yarra Valley, and as business expanded, he began to source honey from across Victoria.
Norm’s youngest son Richard, a trained chef, is the third generation of the Collins clan to be involved in the business and remains committed to its core values. “We do it all,” says Richard. “From beekeeping to extracting to packing and labelling. I like to call it real world honey made by real people.” Now based in Bendigo, Collins Honey’s range of products includes honey from ironbark trees in the Bendigo region, red stringybarks from Benalla, giant mallees from Hattah and red river gums around Mathoura on the Murray River. The availability of these varieties is dictated by the seasons so the honey flavours change throughout the year. Collins Honey is widely available from supermarkets, farmers’ markets and other outlets. And it all started with a dad paying attention to his son.
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