Metricup is buzzing with excitement after Southern Forests Honey officially opened their new Colony Concept store and restaurant bringing their delicious unprocessed honey products direct to the local South-West market.
Southern Forests Honey owner Simon Green said he and his wife Sarah decided to get into the honey business after his father had beehives for many years.
"It has evolved from this small cottage industry to what we have today," he said.
"We currently package and distribute honey throughout the South-West, Perth and export into Asia, the Middle East and a few other places.
"The only thing missing from our arsenal has been a local presence which was something we wanted to bring to this region.
"We wanted to put Southern Forests Honey in the South-West where it has been for the last decade and give it a home base where people could come and see what we have to offer."
Mr Green said honey had been used for thousands of years and was a product which could be used for so many different things including wine, beer, cosmetics or simply to eat.
The beekeepers have access to many different varieties of honey in the Southern Forest region of WA.
Along with unprocessed honey, they also produce creamed honey, wine, skin care and have teamed up with Cheeky Monkey to create a honey red ale.
Expanding from their home business in Nannup, the new facility encompasses all elements of honey and beekeeping including a kitchen, children's playground and interpretive centre with a live see through beehive.
The Colony Concept is located at 62 Harmins Mill Road, Metricup and is open from 10am to 5pm daily, for more information about the venue please visit the Facebook page facebook.com/thecolonyconcept/.
The Colony Concept received funding support from the WA Government's Regional Economic Development (RED) Grants through the South West Development Commission.