Frobee's Honey a stalwart vendor at the Wagin Woolorama

Frobee's Honey is one of the oldest, if not the oldest market vendors at Woolorama and, due to COVID in 2022, was the first year it had missed in nearly 35 years.

David and Loralie Froby, best known as the Elders Katanning insurance team, inherited the business from David's parents Tom and Carol when they retired in 1997.

The Albany-based couple bought their hives in 1979 to become full-time apiarists, running 140 hives along the South Coast.

"I remember they had 50 retail outlets stocking their honey and they were selling nearly all of it around Albany," David said.

"I was in Katanning and because of my ties to Woolorama, I suggested they try going there.

"I thought it would be a good way to expand their market and I think they came to their first Woolorama in 1990."

They kept going back and although it took a while, they built up a good market of repeat customers and David now ranks it as one of their best outlets.

"You can be sitting at the stall and see someone coming along and you know they are going to buy honey because they do every year," he said.

He remembers one lady in her 70s who always came and bought six, three-kilogram buckets for her year's supply to keep her going until the next time and he would carry them to her car.

When their parents retired, David and Loralie took over with some initial reluctance partly because they worked full-time and partly because David remembered the stings he got when he was a young helper.

"I hated it when I was introduced to beekeeping," David said.

"I knew all about it but I had no interest in any of it back then but when it's your own, it all changes."

Son Callum now helps with robbing the hives, extraction, packaging and selling and their grandchildren Imogen, 14, and Xavier, 10, put on a bee suit and are learning about the process.

It is part of their succession plan for the business that David regards as a hobby that pays for itself.

"By that, I mean it covers its costs - there is a lot of work moving hives, spending a full day extracting," he said.

"The fun part is when you see us in front of the stall - you don't see all the work that goes into it."

With David and Loralie working full-time, they scaled back the business to a more manageable 40 hives they keep in locations around Katanning and Kojonup and down to Albany.

The area allows them to produce predominantly whitegum, redgum and jarrah honey.

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David said there were a lot more people keeping hives as a hobby but few have done for the number of years the Froby family has and they have always marketed their product directly to the public.

"We could sell bulk honey but don't as we prefer to value-add what we are doing and ensure the public gets the best - there is no comparison between beekeeper honey and supermarket honey," he said.

You can find Frobee's Honey in its usual place in the market pavilion, stop by and say hello.