I often joke with my friends that all Higginses are closet farmers.
My grandfather was accountant who owned extensive sheep and cattle properties most of his life including for many years extensive grazing pastures in the hills around Yass. My father was a software engineer by trade, senior public servant and more recently a politician who ran a mango farm and tourist park. Now his pride and joy is homemade salami, cabana and other small goods featuring pork raised on the family property in Darwin.
So given this connection to the land watching Landline on a Sunday was a common, if somewhat unusual, habit for a city dweller with my heritage. Indeed, it was a well worn ritual to sit down after I'd mowed the lawn or cleaned the pool and see what was happening in the rural and regional Australia.
I still remember standing in the lounge on a hot summer day in Brisbane in 2006 watching Landline when I saw an in depth episode on Australian Native Stingless Bees as the basis for pollination services. But this wasn't the first time I had encountered these amazing insects...
I was only 12 years old when my family moved to Darwin. About a year after arriving we moved into post-Tracy Besser block home built by the Reconstruction Commission in Nakara. It was there I had my first encounter with stingless native bees when I discovered a nest within the concrete blocks in house itself.
The strange black stingless creatures were distinguished from the much nastier paper wasps common in the NT by a school friend with Aboriginal roots. He identified them for me as sugarbag or bush bees and lamented the fact that we weren't going to get the honey out of the wall.
Fast forward to 2006 and that fateful episode of Landline. My curiosity was once again ignited and I went on the hunt for information, determined to learn more.
After joining the ANBees Yahoo Email Group and "listening" to a small group of enthusiasts and experts l bought a copy of John Klumpp's fantastic book "Australian Stingless Bees: A Guide to Sugarbag Keeping". I was now even more fascinated!
By 2010 I acquired my first hive from Dr Tim Heard at Sugarbag Bees and attended my first workshop a year later. Again with Tim. By then I'd propagated a second hive and over the next five years would propagate numerous hives which I placed with "foster" families in exchange for shared native bee honey harvests.
After moving to Sydney in 2015, I acquired my first Zabel hive from Russell and Janine Zabel so I could continue my urban farming as a stingless beekeeper or more officially a Meliponist.
Over the last decade I've watched the stingless bee community and industry explode - from a small group of scientists, professionals, amateurs and enthusiasts to a massive, Australia-wide, diverse community. This reflection led me to ask myself. What can I contribute?
The answer - my knowledge and passions for these wonderful insects and my skills and talents as a presenter.
And so I began development of the world's first dedicated podcast for Australia's stingless native bees.
Welcome to Stingless Tales. I hope you'll join me for the next chapter in the story.