Small Business Success Stories With Bowral Honey Farm

Hamish Ta-mé traces the beginning of his love affair with beekeeping back to his high school years at an agricultural boarding school. Although he didn’t immediately jump into the world of bees professionally, it seems all roads were leading him to Bowral Honey Farm.

Founder of Bowral Honey Farm, Hamish Ta-mé, wearing a beekeeper suit and holding a smoker in a grassy outdoor setting with trees and fencing in the background.

In the years since leaving school, Hamish’s career has spanned many fields, including photography, content creation, business management and corporate communications. Throughout every career change and pivot, beekeeping remained a cherished hobby.

In 2020, when COVID-related workplace restructures left Hamish without a job, he decided to turn his focus full-time to beekeeping at his Bowral property. With more time to dedicate to tending to his hives, he was finally able to grant his friends’ requests for an audience with his bees. Soon after he found that interest in his beekeeping extended far beyond his inner circle. “I listed [a tour] on Airbnb Experiences and within a year it was [a highly] ranked experience in Australia," says Hamish. "All of this in my backyard in Bowral!”

Since then, Bowral Honey Farm has continued to buzz with success. Having quickly outgrown Hamish’s backyard, the farm now consists of three sites, making room for more beehives, tours and exciting agritourism collaborations on the horizon.

Discover the most important lessons Hamish has learnt on his small business journey and get a peek into a day in the life of a beekeeper…

A Day in the Life at Bowral Honey Farm

Hamish seated at an outdoor table, drinking from a cup and reading, with a peaceful pond and trees visible in the background through an open doorway.

Start Early and Make Light Work of the AM

“I tend to wake up early, listening to current affairs and start the day with a pot of leaf tea and sourdough bread with homemade marmalade. Around 7am, I respond to inquiries for bookings and some emails. Around 9am, I pack my laptop and head to a local cafe that I love; I try to schedule catch-ups with friends.” ‍

Hamish wearing protective beekeeping gear holds up a wooden frame covered with bees, inspecting the hive in an outdoor setting with blurred trees in the background.

Block Out Time to Zone In

“I like to be at the honey farm around 10am as my scheduled tours typically start at 11am. The next three hours are a blur of chatting and working with my various helpers to set up for the tour, greeting guests, running the tours, making retail sales and then packing up.”

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An over-the-shoulder view of Hamish writing in a notebook on a wooden table surrounded by beeswax, honey jars, candles and printed labels.

Regularly Plan for the Future

“I usually head home for a late lunch and try to switch off my brain for an hour or two by reading fiction and listening to music. Then, mid-afternoon, I tend to do big-picture stuff, including ideas for new tours, designing my new retail space, staff planning, collaborations with food and wine friends, and a bit of strategic planning looking at the next six months on the calendar.”

Find Your Balance in the PM

“Evenings are typically spent at a networking or tourism event or speaking at community groups. But it's not all work! I often head into the city to meet friends for dinner and catch a live music gig. It's a lovely balance between a regional lifestyle and a city energy that I love.”

Hamish’s Top Business Tips

A close-up of a honeycomb frame covered with bees, showing capped honey cells and open cells, with a hive tool being used to inspect wax and propolis.

Embrace Past Experiences

“In some ways, I have been running this business since I was a teenager! All of the various things that I’ve done in my personal, creative and commercial life have contributed to the success of what I'm doing now,” says Hamish. “[Photography] is a wonderful skill to have when you are promoting a business or briefing other content creators. Having worked in marketing and communications, I can string words together and get them out into the world. I also ran a gallery with a large focus on retail, which has helped me run my honey shop.”

Hamish wearing protective beekeeping gear, standing near a white beehive box and smoker, with tall grass and trees in the background.

Know When to Upscale

“I realised it was time to [build a] team when I was becoming burnt out trying to do everything myself. I am an enthusiastic and excited personality and put a lot of energy into running my business. However, I had to learn that this was not in infinite supply. Now, I have a wonderful gang of helpers. I love training young people who are keen for insight into the working world, and I also have a lovely network of experienced beekeepers and tour facilitators to help me run the hands-on side of agritourism.”

Outsource Repetitive Tasks

“In the last few months, I have taken on a bookkeeper to help with accounts and contracted an insurance broker to take care of all of my various policies. There are also aspects of my marketing, like GEO [generative engine optimisation] and Google Ads, that I’m very happy to outsource.”

Hamish standing in front of a brick building with a yellow sign reading ‘Bowral Honey Farm: Shop, Tours, Workshops’, surrounded by trees, a fence and beekeeping equipment.

Be Flexible With Your Business Structures

“I have tried to keep an open mind and be flexible. For a long time I was focused on the longer beekeeping workshops, but I had regular inquiries for one-hour visits and tours, including for seniors’ groups and community groups. Eventually, I realised that shorter tours and experiences were far more profitable and had less impact on me and the bees, so these visits are what I focused on.”

Hamish’s Business Essentials

Hamish assists a customer at the Bowral Honey Farm retail shop, showcasing jars of honey on a table with beekeeping suits and educational materials displayed in the background.

For Retail Sales

“I love the Square platform. The card readers and backend are wonderful. I use this platform for all my invoicing, retail and appointments.”

Hamish using a laptop connected to an external hard drive, with jars of honey and beekeeping suits visible in the softly focused background.

For Everyday Tasks

“I couldn’t work without a fast and powerful laptop. I also have several 27-inch monitors, power adapters, keyboards and mice and have them set up at home and at work. I use portable hard drives so I can travel between home and work seamlessly.”

A workspace featuring a notebook with a sticky note labelled ‘honey bees’, an external hard drive, colourful sticky notes and honeycomb packaging sheets on a wooden table.

For Creative Jobs

“I do all my own graphic design and print my labels on an OKI laser printer. As well as simple things like acrylic sign holders and Post-it notes.”

For a Smarter Space

“I love listening to music and recently purchased a smart speaker. I love it! Some of my top bands I listen to are Aldous Harding, Nick Cave and Holly Throsby.”

A Day in the Life at Bowral Honey Farm