Beekeeping Personality Profile: Charlie Hacker

by Hamish Lamb

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I'd like you to meet a friendly fellow who many have seen at bee conferences and field days. Charlie's carefree attitude, infectious laugh and inquiring mind have been the qualities that many of us have appreciated when in his company.

Charlie's beekeeping skills have proved successful in maintaining a viable business in these financially difficult times.

 

Here is the story of Cooroy-based Charlie.

When and where did you Start your beekeeping career? 
I'm a boat builder by trade, working with both timber and fibreglass. During 1972 the boat building industry went through a recession. This is when I started part time beekeeping under the guidance of Granny Rosser. We were in Brisbane at the time and the Rosser family was a well-known beekeeping family, based in Benowa.

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Where did you grow up and what were your interests at this time? 
I grew up in Brisbane with a short stint in Rockhampton. As an 8-year-old I became interested in sailing. I joined a sailing club on the Brisbane River and sailed at the 18 footer's Club, as a junior.

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Where do you work your bees and what flora do you utilise? 
I mainly work in the southeast corner, including the Burnett district and Miriamvale areas. I work the Narrow-leaved Ironbark and Spotted Gum in the winter here. I travel to the Yellow Box at Texas and Goondiwindi, and also to the Gum Topped Box around Murgon as well as the Jimna ranges. 

I also did considerable pollination in the Macadamia nut trees on the Maleny range some years ago. This work was in conjunction with a trial that the previous Apiary Officer, John Rhodes was running. 
It was interesting when we fed 50 bags of sugar to 400 beehives in order to get them to work the trees. The orchard was a couple of hundred acres with 15-16 year old trees. When I operated out of Maleny 21 years ago the dairy farms had lots of clover, which was wonderful for my bees. This is a thing of the past with fewer dairy farms operating, very few using clover, and drought in the previous years.

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What Sort of truck and honey house do you operate with? 
I've got a Mitsubishi 415, 101/2 tonne which carries 118 hives. I've got an electric/ hydraulic self-made loader. The honey house consists of a 100 frame radial extractor and a 4m conveyer. My uncapper does 19 frames per minute and needs my air driven deboxer to keep up with it.

I am currently very interested in the changes needed for extracting plants to come up to other industry standards.

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How do you preserve your beeboxes? 
I started dipping my boxes in paraffin wax, which was Norm Rice's technique. You must paint the box immediately with plastic paint when it comes out of the wax, while it is still hot. Though this process does have merit, the copper napthenate and unleaded petrol dip and paint is all we do now.

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What are Some of the highlights of your career so far? 
I was the first one in Queensland to travel to the irradiation plant in Sydney when we had an AFB outbreak in 1987. While it seemed more like a disaster than a highlight at the time, getting the gear irradiated was an excellent decision as we were able to sterilise all our spare equipment and use it for the next spring. I am thankful we have this option to remedy our AFB problems.

 

I consider serving on the Queensland Beekeepers Association Executive 1996-1998 a highlight. I was also QBA Wide Bay Branch President for 2 years. Getting the next crop of honey is always something to look forward to.

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Is it true about you having a reputation for the largest hive tool in the industry? 
Well I think it is quite amusing that I'm known for having the biggest hive tool. I make my own out of stainless steel. I have to have something decent to handle 300 boxes of honey in one day !

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What were your worst moments in beekeeping? 
The last time soapy bush flowered well around Pomona, in 1986, I got bogged 3 times in one day! Talk about wet, we were towed out of two bogs by two different tractors and I dug out of the third. I didn't get back to Nambour until 9.00pm! I think we topped an all time production record for us with an average of 19.5kg of honey per hive.

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What are your other interests?

My interests in sailing have continued and I have become more committed. The whole family is involved in the Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club. I am an Australian Yacht Federation Sailing Master. I am also an on-water judge for team racing and a grade 2 National Coach under the National Coach Association.

In 1998 I was awarded the Solo trophy for services to sailing.

(Solo is an old racing boat that went to the Antarctic in the early 1960's. The trophy is the sailing equivalent to the beekeeping Goodacre award.)

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Author's Note:

You have to admit Charlie has his priorities right when it comes to maintaining an ideal lifestyle if the honey goes off or the wind gets up, the bee overalls and veil are quickly changed to a set of togs and he heads for the lake with the boat! Charlie's other credits include raising three children Mia, EIke and Zane, and though they aren't following in beekeeping yet,  Mia does have her truck license!  Gail who is Charlie's partner should also be credited as the unseen partner in the family beekeeping business. Gail also doubles up as a storyteller, turning up all over the place, from outback schools to the Brisbane Convention Centre.