Guest Speaker Frank Malfroy @ D2E Gardening Expo & Plant Fair

Growing up, Frank's family lived on a bush block and they had chooks, ducks, horses, donkeys and vege gardens. Bees seemed to fit into the small farm thing back in the late 60/70s and Frank caught a swarm and put it in the backyard. An old beekeeper nearby showed him the ins and outs of how a beehive works. “I got stung - by that I mean bee venom is addictive - I started with one and ended up with over 1,000 hives. It seemed like a good way to earn a living at the time. It's had it's moments...”. In about 1975 Frank started working with Gretchen Wheen, a queen bee breeder, who had a property on the Hawkesbury River. He learnt all about raising queen bees as well, on and off for about years. “By about 1980 I had enough bees to go it alone and I have been at it ever since.”