Show Notes
Episode 104 of the Bees with Ben podcast documents the extraordinary progress of a ground-
breaking Australian small business. Against all odds, they launched their product just a week before
Covid restrictions were announced in February 2020. John McArthur, of Banana Feeds Australia, says
that he and his business partner, Robert Borsato (who is a third generation banana grower), were
sick of seeing high quality bananas being downgraded because of minor skin blemishes, or the wrong
shape, and decided to look further afield to find uses for this product. The Banana Feeds Australia
website notes that for centuries, bananas have played a vital role in the healthy diet of both humans
and animals alike and have been used by many elite athletes to help achieve peak performance. The
business owners decided initially to focus on the possibilities of an equine supplement, but research
was hard to find. Bananas had been shown to reduce the incidence of ulcers in rats, and to assist to
prevent mastitis in dairy cattle, but this was unlikely to convince racehorse owners to try a product
made entirely from dehydrated green bananas.
So a research project was undertaken with the University of Adelaide, in an effort to identify and
analyse the beneficial components of green bananas. In contrast to ripe bananas, which have a
much higher sugar content, green bananas are high in carbohydrates. They also contain beneficial
polyphenols and flavonoids, along with dopamine and serotonin, all of which are chiefly found in the
peel.
Banana Feeds Australia then constructed a state of the art factory in Far North Queensland, where
whole green bananas (including peel, stems and flower ends) are washed, sliced, dried (raw bananas
consist of 85-90% water) and then milled in a simple and safe process that produces a product that
can easily be shipped anywhere in the world.
B-Complete, the initial equine supplement, was launched with very little marketing and promotion;
as John says, when you have a world-first product it’s ‘pretty important’ to be able to travel, in order
to tell people about it, and this was impossible at the time. Nevertheless, B-Complete took off,
thanks to some fantastic results and endorsements - a Blue Diamond Stakes winner was among the
horses to have used the product. It wasn’t long before dog breeders and greyhound trainers started
to purchase the equine supplement, and this soon resulted in B-Complete for dogs, which is milled
to a somewhat finer consistency.
So how, exactly, is this relevant to bees? Well, Banana Feeds Australia received a telephone call from
a well-known apiary in Tasmania, which had experienced some beneficial effects using green
bananas in the bottom of hives (although no-one quite understood why), with a request to provide
their product in a powdered form. Trials of the green banana powder were overwhelmingly positive;
the apiary used the product on some of their weakest hives, and these subsequently became their
best performing colonies. General colony health and strength was enhanced, and chalkbrood
eliminated. Similar feedback came from other beekeepers, and so 'Bee-Complete’ powdered
supplement became a reality. The product may be sprinkled over the top of frames or used for open
feeding. Many apiarists choose to use it as a supplement in the off season, in order to strengthen
colonies, but it has proved effective all year round.
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