At Nobby on the Darling Downs, Alan Richards has found a way to combine two very different passions: cotton farming and beekeeping. While his son Matt manages most of the farm operations—including growing 70–80 hectares of cotton each year along with pickling onions and other crops—Alan continues to keep bees that produce a unique honey.

Alan supplies his honey to Three Threes, which uses it in their BBQ sauce. Cotton honey is pale and, when it crystallises in cooler weather, forms white layers that resemble cotton. “It’s not only honey that they get off the cotton, but very high-grade pollen, which is important in a beehive,” Alan says.

Keeping bees alongside cotton works safely because of careful planning and communication. “I have a close relationship with my son. He lets me know when he needs to spray for pests, and I just move the bees seven kilometres away to give them a week out in the bush. Then I bring them back when it’s safe,” he explains. By moving the hives during spraying periods, the bees aren’t exposed to the chemicals, allowing both cotton and honey production to continue without harm.

Alan notes that cotton nectar comes not from the flowers themselves but from nectaries at the base of the flower buds. Bees feed directly from these nectaries, and the plants can yield a surprisingly good honey crop. “I think the best I’ve got off it was three boxes in a cotton season. It’s a different honey, quite pleasant tasting, good table honey, but it does get candy very quickly because of the high sugar content,” he says.

This careful approach shows that, with planning and communication, cotton farming and beekeeping can thrive together—producing both healthy crops and high-quality honey.

Clear planning and communication support the safe coexistence of cotton and bees, alongside tools like Satacrop and BeeConnected.