COULD Dimboola sisters Bindi, 4, and Tully, 2, Abbott be the Wimmera's youngest beekeepers?
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A story in the February edition of Wimmera Farmer asked whether five-year-old Lucy Mathews, who helps her dad Greg and granddad Andrew keep bees at Laharum's Grampians Olive Co, held the title.
Bindi and Tully's mum Sandy Abbott said her daughters were tough competition.
Both girls have helped their mum keep bees at a property behind their family home for about six months.
Mrs Abbott said she had been keeping the bees for just over a year.
"I wanted to try something new as a hobby and just for a bit of fun. I've been really enjoying," she said.
"I learned how to keep bees mostly through self-learning techniques. I watched lots of YouTube videos and read books, and asked questions to other people I knew who kept bees.
"Facebook is also a really helpful tool and there are a lot of groups on there for the beekeeping community.
"We haven't harvested the honey yet because it takes a while for it to build up.
"It all depends on how well the colony does over the seasons and how much food storage they have.
"They have to build up their own food storage before you harvest it."
She said Bindi and Tully were fascinated by the bees.
"Both girls wanted to help, but Tully, especially, was really into it," she said.
"We'll go for bike ride and she'll be pointing out all the bees in the bushes along the road, she just loves them.
"We got a full suit for Bindi, but it's too big on her. But it's the only one that completely covers Tully; it's way too big for her but it protects her."
The family just has the one hive on their property, but Mrs Abbott said she planned on building more.
"We're thinking about building a small shop on our property to sell honey and other bee products like beeswax wraps, balms and candles," she said.
"We'll build some more hives too and hopefully get some more swarms in spring."
She encouraged other people to take up beekeeping as a hobby.
"It's not as hard as it looks, but I would say that they need to do a lot of research beforehand. There's a lot involved in keeping boxed bees," she said.
"If more people get involved in keeping bees, then it's better for everyone. A lot of things won't go well if the bees don't survive."
Bindi said her favourite thing about bees was the end result - the honey.
"I know how they make honey. They get nectar from the flowers to make honey," she said.
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