HiveKeepers, a small Victorian business, has had its Micro Honey Harvester named among TIME Magazine’s 300 best inventions for 2026. It is one of just 13 picks in the food and drink category.
The device is aimed at hobby and small-scale beekeepers. Rather than lifting out a full frame, users remove small plastic cassettes from the hive and load them into a machine that sits somewhere between a food processor and a centrifuge. It spins out the honey without the wax cap having to be removed first.
The idea came from firefighter Simon Mildren, who got tired of slow, heavy honey extraction. His early prototype was built on a modified salad spinner.
The business is run by two people and sells through specialist retailers in Australia, New Zealand and the US, and via E.H. Thorne in the UK. It raised $110,000 from about 170 backers on Kickstarter in 2025. Sydney’s Silicon Quantum Computing also made the TIME list.
What it means for your money
A tiny team with a clear problem to solve and early customer backing can reach a global stage. For small business owners, crowdfunding can double as market testing before you commit to a big production run.
Source: SmartCompany