Vanilla Club Podcast
At Vanilla Club, our idea of 'Simple Wellness' is both timely and timeless. We pride ourselves on a "back to basics" approach to life, love, and wellbeing
Vanilla Club Podcast delves into how everyday people - often those closest to trauma - find ways to heal and improve their mental and physical wellbeing amid stress, complexity, and even desperation.
Unlike mainstream wellness narratives that focus on optimising the lives of high achievers, we aim to share stories of resilience and resourcefulness from the "quiet achiever".
Vanilla Club Podcast
19. Zac Petersen: Inside the Hive - The Hidden World of Bees
In this breezy but immersive episode, Vanilla Club Podcast gets out of the studio and into the field, or the paddock, as they say Down Under. I sit down with Zac Peterson, founder of Cairns Native Bee/Hinterland Hives, and Anoob Davidraj, a fellow Vanilla Club team member, to unpack the remarkable world of bees.
What begins as a conversation about starting our own apiary at Vanilla Club, quickly expands into a sweeping exploration of the craft of beekeeping, and the science of the hive mind. They are wonderful creatures these bees!
As the episode unfolds, we dive into the chemistry of taste - how compounds, plant stress responses, soil profiles, and even pollination behaviours influence what we perceive on the tongue. This is terroir if I have ever seen it, applicable as much to Chardonnay grapes in France as it is to native Australian honey in Queensland.
One of the episode’s highlights is Zac’s breakdown of honey production: how bees perform the waggle dance to guide others to nectar, why honey flavour changes every season, and how a single hive with ten frames can produce ten completely different honeys depending on where its foragers decide to fly. With yields ranging from 30 to 60 kilos a year, each hive becomes its own micro-ecosystem of chemistry and flavour.
We discuss the calming effect of smoke, to the evolutionary reasons bees are more aggressive toward darker colours - a survival trait shaped by ancient predators. Are bees racist? We now know the answer.
Anoob shares a bit of his background with us, tracing his passion for beekeeping back to his childhood in South India, where his family produced seasonal honey from blooming rubber trees.
We then reflect on the future of ethical beekeeping, the alarming impact of agricultural chemicals, and the urgent need for younger keepers. In preparation of our own Vanilla Club honey concoctions, we are embracing the idea that we are partners with our bees; in fact their collective decision making determine the precise flavours of each season.
Keep it sweet!
We hope you enjoy.