Sweet Pure Honey Blog

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Published: 11 March 2020

   The recent news from the Alberta Beekeepers Commission reporting the honey crop in Alberta was down by as much as 50%, did not come as a shock to me. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/honey-bees-beekeepers-environment-1.5488447  Friends in the beekeeping industry in Alberta had already shared that information with us last summer. We were slightly better at 33% less than average, on par with 2018 which was the worst crop in my 27 years as a beekeeper. With a persistently low price for Canadian honey over the last 4 years, and large hive loses in the 2017 and 2018 crop years has put many honey producers at risk, including our bee farm.

   Highs and lows are normal for farming, but this is different beast for the beekeeping industry mainly because the increased pressures from the Varroa mite persist and a dwindling average honey crops in the last 10-15 years were already making things more difficult. With the cost for labour, fuel, and building skyrocketing, the price of honey has stayed largely the same since the early 2000’s.

    These increased pressures together with disasters of the last few years could bring some producers to their breaking point. Beekeepers that are thinking of retiring and see little to offer the next generation’s future could throw in the towel. Some of these family farms are multi-generational beekeepers. Their loss to the beekeeping industry and the rural towns in which they operate will be devastating.  

    What can you do if you want to help? The best action is to buy honey directly from the producer. Purchase honey produced in Canada, the producers name and bee farm will be listed on the bottle.  You are supporting the producers directly and indirectly supporting the price of honey for the entire Canadian honey industry.

    Social media is a strong tool to help others know what is happening right now in Canada.  Not many people are aware of the plight facing honey producers. Please share, post and encourage your friends to buy honey from Canadian producers.  The power is in your hands.

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Published: 27 February 2020

  One of the questions over the years I have been asked many times is what made you decide to become a beekeeper. I wish I could give an answer like it always was my dream from a child to a beekeeper. Honestly, I just fell into it.

  My introduction into bees started during summer breaks in high school in the extraction plant where we would separate the honey from the frames. At first, I didn't really like it. It was hard work, it was hot, and you were getting stung by bees continually. When I closed my eyes at night after working those days, all I could see is multitudes of bees crawling over each other in mass. It was more like a nightmare than anything.

 It wasn’t until I was in college and would start working earlier in the bee season and seeing the hives build up for honey flow that I started to fall in love them. Seeing the inner working of the hive was magic to me. I had never thought it possible of insects all the things they were capable of. They shook the foundation of what I perceived of intelligence, sacrifice and dedication could be. Cue the bright lights from the sky and angels singing, it was a personal epiphany.

    It opened my mind to the possibility of the divine. I remembered reading about different cultures of the ancient world and how many of them admired and even worshipped bees. I was starting to understand their obsession.

  It can be one of the purest sensations I argue in the world to work with bees. The smells of honey, wax and propolis makes me think of warm soothing feelings, comforting, familiar, safe. The bees flapping their wings gives off a C note, pleasing to our human ears. The inner workings of the hive inspire a sense of purpose and belonging. It was making it hard not to become a beekeeper.

  I was completing my other great love in life, Art and Design in college. The prospects for jobs in my chosen field were grim in the early 1990’s. A student loan that I had taken was coming due. As a farm kid I had limited skills other than knowing how to work hard. I got a job working in the patch in the winter and beekeeping was there for me in the summer. It seemed like not a bad thing to do until things got better in the job market.

  Things probably got better for jobs in my field. What I had dreamed of as an Artist probably could have happened, but I didn’t notice. I had fallen in love and I could not bear to think of summers without the bees and being immersed in nature. So, I forgot about the city, and the dreams and ambitions I had, in exchange for a soul filling life filled with bees. And that’s how it happened.

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Published: 26 February 2020

  Hi, this is Sheldon Hill, the beekeeper in The Sweet Pure Honey. Sweet Pure Honey has enjoyed special support from what I like to call our ambassadors of SPH and you know who you are because you have chosen to read this right now. You are a dedicated lover of our honey, soaps, balms, beeswax wraps and other products and we can’t thank you enough. So, Thank You! We literally couldn’t do it with out your support. Recognizing this we want to share with you more what we do. We also want to hear what is important to you. To show in some part our gratefulness to you in making our dream a reality.

  My wife Stella, the face and brand of SPH you are probably are all more familiar with.  I have had the chance to meet a lot of you at markets and other events that SPH has been apart of over the years, I have enjoyed meeting you all. During those interactions, Stella and I have been asked a lot of questions, and we would like to interact more, and answer your bee questions.

  So, with the encouragement of my wife Stella, I have decided to create a blog called Smokey Beekeeper. The first few blogs will be some of the things that I may think would be interesting to our supporters. I hope in the future, blog topics that are bee related could come from you. I love thinking and talking all things bees. You have the ear of this beekeeper, so ask away. 

  Video content is planned to follow in the spring. Who doesn’t love watching bee video’s doing what they do best, I know I do, LOL. For those of you who are passionate about raising bees or maybe raising bees is a want in the future. I would like to produce some videos on from how to handle bees, every day working of hives, what to look for, more advanced techniques such as splitting and queen rearing and many others through the coming season.

    As requested, by some of our followers in the past, we are now able to offer for the first time, live bees for sale to start your own hive.

  For those of you who are new to bees and have no existing equipment, we are offering a package that will have all the things to let your hive grow. From bottom boards to lids and all the things between. There is a limited amount and is on first come first serve basis. Included in this package will be exclusive access to one-on-one mentoring with Smokey Beekeeper through various means of texting, Facetime, Skype and E-mail, what ever works. I want you and your hive to be successful and flourish.

     For those who have equipment and just need bees to establish, I am offering a 6- frame nucleus colony. It like the previous offer comes with a queen that has been wintered from the previous year and has 2-3 frames of brood and enough bees to take advantage of the early pollen and nectar and to establish itself into a viable colony for winter. More information in the Sweet Pure Honey store. This will be added in the coming weeks. 

     I am excited about this new journey and sharing some knowledge about our interesting little friends, the bees. Thank you again for all the support and encouragement for what we do. It is our pleasure to be apart of it.

    You can follow @ smokeybeekeeper on Instagram and Facebook. Thanks for sharing.