Peter Matthison, from the village of Elands, was a mid-range honey producer with 365 hives before the fires cut a swathe through his bees spread along the coastal fringe.

After the fires, he decided to rebuild his hives and to do that he had to sacrifice honey production for the year.

"We have spent the last four months rebuilding our colonies," he said, explained from his home at Elands.

While he aims to increase the number to over 400 it will not be just for producing the delicious golden liquid.

Market to produce bees

He said there was a market in providing bees to other producers and for exports.

"I will be still producing honey but also queen bee breeding and supplying baby nucleus colonies for other beekeepers," Mr Matthison said.

"A nucleus colony is basically a baby colony ready to be sent out to a beekeeper who will turn it into a fully functional adult hive over the first few months and go into production."

Packaged bees

The former academic, who worked in the resources industry, said that the bushfires destroyed so many hives and bushland sites, there was the need to re-establish colonies in a hurry.

"One of the quickest ways of doing this is to buy-in a nucleus colony.

"There is a market there. We are also going to give to bushfire-affected beekeepers to help them get back on their feet. We received some help and we think that is the right thing that we should be doing."

While Mr Matthison said with many beekeepers looking to build their numbers back up again — and therefore creating added demand for hives ready to produce — there was also another option.

"That is what is called packaged bees, which is an export option. A lot of beekeepers are now starting to think about this seriously.

"We pack them up send them overseas where they will do a single pollination job.

"The agricultural world is screaming out for more bees for more pollination for food production and food security around the world."

One-way trip

The bees numbering around 200 are packaged and the boxes placed on a pallet and sent overseas by air.

Weighing around a kilogram, the ventilated boxes also contain enough food to sustain the bees till touch down.

"They are all worker bees with no Queen, so it is a one-way trip. By not returning there is also no problems with them coming back and infecting a hive in Australia."

"We've got an excess of bees in the southern hemisphere when farmers on the other side of the globe when they are going into their winter period they need their bees."

Manuka interest grows

Mr Matthison's determination to diversify his operation is also reflected in his propagation of the Leptospermum bush which bees feed on and make the much sought-after Manuka Honey which people want for its health benefits.

Many of the sites he had which were destroyed by fire had the bush and so he will not be getting any Manuka honey for "a couple of years", hence the urgency in growing new ones.

The international interest in the Manuka honey has jumped dramatically.

"We are seeing a real price rise. The new plantations we have that survived hopefully will start producing this year."

While the image of an apiarist may be that of someone maintaining hives to produce the tasty sticky food, Mr Matthison is determined that will be only part of his operation involving all aspects of the bee.

Story By | Michael Cavanagh, ABC.