FEARLESS about stings, knowledgeable about waggle dances and calm in the face of swarms, John Grubb has been a beekeeper for four years and loves every second.

“It’s a hobby for me, and I get a lot of enjoyment out of it,” he says. “Of course, there’s the reward of honey, and it’s beneficial for propagating the garden.”

John, a retired air force officer, teaches beekeeping courses at CIT and the Canberra Environment Centre. Having retired two years ago, he says he’s learned a lot in a short time from other members of the local Beekeepers Association.

“Tapping into their experience, learning the practicalities and seeking help as I went along has got me where I am now,” he says. “And since retiring I’ve had a lot more time to read up and build a broad knowledge.”

“They need sunlight, a water source, food,” he says. “There’s a lot more involved at the moment, however, because there has been a lack of nectar this season so we have to feed them, too.”

As a convenor for the Canberra Organic Growers Society, John says he got into beekeeping by accident.

“A past gardener had left equipment at the Charnwood community garden – hives, protective clothing and everything. So I decided to give it a try,” he says.

John has now moved his hives to a friend’s farm nearby because there’s more space there than in his North Lyneham backyard, and he didn’t want to put his family at risk of stings.

“It’s probably a good idea to ask your neighbours if they mind you setting up an apiary at home, in case anyone suffers from bad reactions to bee stings,” he says. “But it’s important not to get in the bees’ flight path or unnecessarily stir them up.

“I have been stung, but less so in recent years. I like to think the bees can sense if you’re calm and caring, and they can even recognise you, which is pretty incredible.

“I try not to disturb them too much, unless I have to. It can stress them, and there’s enough stresses around at the moment as it is.”

In Canberra, the main threat is a disease called American foulbrood, but also on the horizon is the prospect of the varroa mite, which has already become an issue in Queensland, John says. Then there’s the problem of colony collapse disorder in Europe and America, where whole colonies of worker bees suddenly vanish.

“We check the hives three to four times a year for disease,” he says.

For the uninitiated, a waggle dance is the way a bee communicates to its hive mates which direction they should fly to reach a food source, and is one of the many things which has captured John’s interest.

“I’m fascinated with how bees operate,” John says. “They’re a single organism but they communicate so efficiently, they react to threats – their whole cycle is fascinating.

“Their favourite colours are blue and yellow, and they’re agitated by the colour black – so beekeepers never wear black because they may think we’re a bear.”