Sweet reward despite the odd sting
For those wanting to get up close and personal with tens of thousands of bees and not get stung, there are steps to take.
Wear protective gear, keep movements small and slow and try not to eat a banana beforehand - the fruit supposedly smells like pheromones to the winged honey makers.
"They are wild animals at the end of the day," beekeeper Narada Stapel said with the philosophical air of a man who knows what it feels like to be stung. A lot.
The computer programmer and hobby apiarist is one of a fast-growing number of amateur beekeepers in Perth.
In 10 years the number of beekeepers in WA has more than trebled, from 420 in 2005 to 1314 this year. In the past five years alone, it has nearly doubled.
About 65 per cent are amateurs who do it for the pleasure and a steady supply of honey. Commercial beekeepers account for 90 per cent of honey production in WA.
Mr Stapel became interested in bees in Melbourne when the "slow food" movement was taking off. He liked the sense of connection with his environment.
Unfortunately for him, WA's strict quarantine laws meant his bees had to stay in Melbourne.
Now the secretary of WA Apiarists Society, Mr Stapel said tending to his 80,000 bees in the southern suburb of Karnup made for a nice break from his day job.
"You do get to the point where you're like, 'What am I going to do with all this honey'," he said.
Honey varies in taste with regional flora so Mr Stapel's honey will vary in taste to honey made in Cottesloe or in the Hills.
