Beekeeping hub for Jimboomba part of Natasha Roebig's Rural Women's Award plan

Natasha Roebig is the winner of the 2019 Queensland AgriFutures Rural Women's Award and plans to use her winnings to provide training opportunities for other beekeepers. 

Ms Roebig and her husband Jason started Bee All Natural and Organic in 2013, looking for a way to help their daughter Miranda, now 7, battle painful eczema. 

The idea was born to use natural honey and beeswax to create a soothing balm for Miranda's skin, a decision that kickstarted the Roebig's beekeeping journey. 

From there the business has grown, with the family now operating 300 hives across a number of sites as well as a bee nursery and commercial beekeeping shed on their 1.2ha Jimboomba block. 

Ms Roebig said the local farming community is supportive of the beekeeping industry and that bees play a vital role in agriculture.

"Bees pollinate two thirds of our food sources so it is essential we have healthy bees and that they are pollinating crops," she said. 

"There are beekeepers who provide pollination services and move hives round to different farms as needed. 

"It's also important to work with farmers in terms of making sure crop dusting and other pest control measures are good for the health of bees."

Now the Roebigs are looking to spread the buzz about beekeeping either further by starting a training facility that will take its first students in the first half of 2020. 

The aim is to use their Jimboomba facility to provide a safe and inclusive learning environment for professionals and hobbyists alike, hosting workshops with industry mentors and promoting cutting-edge research.

The couple also hopes to introduce beekeeping to people as a therapeutic experience. 

Ms Roebig said they wanted to help more people learn or enhance their beekeeping skills and interest in the sector was growing.  

"If everybody could have a hive in their backyard, that would be great," she said. 

"The Gold Coast City Council recently announced that if you have over 1200 square metres of land, you can get a $250 incentive to put in a hive, we'd love to see more councils offer something like that."

Ms Roebig will compete with other state and territory winners for the Australian Rural Women's Award title on in September, for the chance to double the amount of money she's putting towards the Jimboomba facility. 

"We would love to really be a beekeeping hub," she said. 

"We're having a junior program as well, the youth of beekeeping is vital to the industry. 

"In our training facility we will educate about all bees that native to Australia, not just the European honey bee."