Caroline Hammond - The tree change with wings
A colony of bees teaches us that we aren’t in this life alone, we have (if we want to!) an entire community around us that want to support and encourage us.
Maybe this is the reason Caroline Hammond became a beekeeper.
Moving to West Gippsland, Victoria from Brisbane about 8 years ago, Caroline sought to find a healthier lifestyle where she could be a valued part of her community.
After being there a few years, Caroline found the most idyllic place in the hills to call home and started to implement the self-sufficient lifestyle model/principles which she had yearned for since leaving the family sugar cane home in Queensland as a teenager.
She always knew she had a connection with nature and animals.
After setting up the perfect chook run, Caroline decided that she would now get bees, you know for pollination…and honey…and wax products…and mead!
Caroline’s idea was that she would be a classic beekeeper who used every element of the hive…in a no wastage principle.
Well…after only a short period, Caroline found herself working intensively with her mentor in his bee business and was soon out mentoring beekeeping clients and managing hives, as well as helping to run the day to day aspects of the business. She had made so many wonderful connections with people from all over Victoria in the beekeeping industry - an amazing community of people in itself. But more locally, she thought she’d really found her passion, being outside with nature… You see Caroline is from a corporate background, in her words ‘chained to a desk/computer/telephone’ and her health was starting to really show the signs of the imbalance this created.
A bitter sweet situation occurred where the above mentioned business no longer continued to operate, but Caroline found support from people around her and decided to start her own small business.
Come Fly With Me Beekeeping is her little bee business which was born to celebrate the connections we have with each other and our environment through the meeting and mentoring of like-minded people.
Her main focus is in mentoring beekeepers and helping them find their wings in this fascinating hobby. Through her techniques of teaching, she aims to empower confidence and understanding in people around her who are willing to give things a go.
To compliment her mentoring, she also has around 30 honey production hives across the West Gippsland region. These bees are nurtured to produce local honey, with all the amazing health benefits that Raw Honey has… and that list is long! She also has a good selection of beekeeping equipment and products such as protective clothing, paradise honey hive equipment, raw honey, unique gifts and artwork. She provides extraction services and sets up live bee colonies in the spring, among other things!
Whilst Caroline’s little piece of paradise is located in West Gippsland (Victoria, Australia), she finds herself travelling long distances locally, so if you happen to be located in the wonderful region of Gippsland, she’s able to help.
She thoroughly enjoys spending time with so many different people who she then has the pleasure of seeing grow with confidence and fascination through the activity of keeping bees. And I think that’s what has had her hooked from the beginning.
So, as Caroline says 'come fly with me, enjoy the journey’.
Get in touch with Caroline if there’s anything you’d like to ask -she really does love a good chat and a cuppa!
Mentions:
Come Fly With Me Beekeeping - www.comeflywithmebeekeeping.com.au
Instagram - @comeflywithmebeekeeping
