PODCAST EPISODE 7: Neil Stuckey from Sticky Stuckey Honey, Gippsland, Victoria
I don’t get jealous much, but I am a tad envious of my dear friend Neil. With a name like Neil Stuckey– yes, like Sticky, Stuckey Honey– what’s not to turn a little green over; it’s the kind of last name keepers dream of, and it seems to me that the gods (or his parents at least) must have known that Neil would be a bee lover and a maker of delicious honey when they went about making and naming him. It’s a pleasure, therefore, to introduce you to this great friend and colleague of mine, a man I have known for some eight years now, to the BEES WITH BEN podcast.
Last week I travelled down to the beautiful Gippsland area of southern Victoria (one of my favourite places in Australia, even on Earth), and recorded this little episode on site, at Neil Stuckey of (you guessed it) Sticky Stuckey Honey’s (perfection!) packing plant at Flynns Creek. Neil is a real inspiration for me. Why? This keeper sells over twelve varieties of honey; selling honey is his main income (which is quite unusual to be honest), and he sells a whopping two tons of honey per week on average. He also has over 100 colonies of his own, which is a love-project, keeping his hives purely because he is passionate about bees. In parallel, Neil pollinates on the side, and his bees do really well when on the canola fields out near his joint! Neil really is a wealth of knowledge and has been a go-to for the local media for some big issues to do with health and honey regulations. Neil’s unapologetic and down-to-earth approach is based on his huge experience, and he sure makes a lot of sense to me!
On a personal note, anyone that knows Neil well knows that red gum honey is his favourite as it reminds him of his childhood. What a sweety-sticky-Stuckey honey Neil is! And his lovely partner Ann is equally as divine – she makes the most amazing country food, including that time when she made me lobster thermidor when I came to visit! What absolute gems. For these reasons, I am thrilled to welcome Neil Stuckey to the BEES WITH BEN podcast where we talk all things bees, southern Victoria and honey varieties with a true-blue local treasure. Tune in!