Australian_Geographic_-_October_2015_

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Keswick Island honey has a

deep, dark-red colour and

tastes like malted caramel.

Head space.

Dr Alistair Melzer,

above, inspects a

St Bees’ koala skull he

has found, looking for

clues to the mortality

patterns of this

isolated population.

Reigning queen.

Apiarist Des Covey

points to a Keswick

queen, right;

disease-free bees have

been bred on the

island for almost 30

years and introduced

to mainland hives.

Propagation patch.

Regeneration and

landscaping of

Keswick’s public

spaces uses endemic

plants struck from

locally collected

seed, below.

WATCH

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South Cumberland

Islands NP.

Master beekeeper.

Des maintains hives of

Caucasian honey bees fi rst

established on Keswick

Island by his father in 1986.

Apis mellifera

September–October 2015 69