PODCAST EPISODE 61: Beekeeper, entrepreneur and founder of Whale Labs, James Watts, Brisbane, Queensland

Beekeeping is an everchanging and exciting practice and industry. With so much still not known about bees and the incredible properties of honey and other bee-related substances, apiary and beekeeping are areas that engage constantly with science and business as new revelations come to light. We already know that bees are vital for the survival of humans and the planet, and that honey, wax, propolis, bee venom and royal jelly have some incredible health properties. But I have a feeling that what we know now is just the beginning, and so I am always beyond excited to hear about new scientific discoveries as they relate to bees, proving that these seemingly humble creatures are more incredible than we even imagined. For that reason, I am delighted to introduce you to beekeeper and entrepreneur James Watts of Whale Labs—a company seeking to help beekeepers find ways to use the ever-expanding goodness of bees to help the planet and their businesses.

Whale Labs is an innovative research and development company based in Brisbane, Queensland, that focuses on bringing novel designs to life. The business was founded by James in November 2017 while conducting dementia research with small polypeptides—which are single linear chains of many amino acids held together by amide bonds—of which the most crucial to the research was bee venom. Bee venom has both anti-inflammatory and inflammatory properties and has been administered to people in shot form for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, nerve pain, multiple sclerosis (MS), reducing tendonitis, and muscle conditions such as fibromyositis and enthesitis. Since realising the incredible properties of bee venom, James and his colleague James Kenny decided that they would focus on bee venom and find ways to help beekeepers take bee venom from the hive to the marketplace. Perhaps their most well-known product is the ceramic Australian Bee Venom Collector. This glass tool is suited to the environment in Australia and provides a guilt-free way of harvesting bee venom as it omits a pulse that is not dangerous to bees nor long lasting. Bees deposit their venom on the glass panel, and keepers can then collect it by scraping it off the glass. The venom can then be sold by the beekeeper.

Tune in to hear James and I discuss the vision behind his company, how the Australian Bee Venom Collector works, what new innovations are in the pipeline at Whale Labs.

 https://www.whalelabs.com.au/?v=6cc98ba2045f