There is an element about this Coronavirus pandemic that is being overlooked. With Canada – and indeed most of the rest of the world – now putting in travel restrictions and recommendations for “self-isolation” for at least 14 days, there is going to be significant disruption across the country to the Canadian agriculture industry. This […]
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Our Response To COVID-19
Dear Customers, We are, like most everyone, following the Coronavirus developments very closely. We continue to monitor the latest advice from our provincial and federal health agencies on the COVID-19 pandemic. We want you to know that we have already taken precautionary measures to play our part in keeping our customers, clients and staff safe. […]
Continue readingTwo Years On, An Interview About Beekeeping Careers
It’s been two full beekeeping seasons since Amanda and I took over an established commercial operation in Creston. It meant leaving our familiar urban milleu of Vancouver and environs, and building a new life in British Columbia’s rural southeast corner. Now, as we also launch a newly-redesigned website, some of our experiences and views about […]
Continue readingAlberta Small Hive Beetle find means trouble for B.C. beekeepers
Small Hive Beetle, a nasty little pest that B.C. has already had a small taste of, has raised its ugly head in Alberta.And, as seems to be the case so often these days, it is as a result of hitching a ride with an unsuspecting beekeeper. The situation in this case is much more grave […]
Continue readingFeed The Bees: a community effort to feed – and save – ourselves
by Jeff on JULY 4, 2011 in NEWS After Saturday’s publication in The Vancouver Sun of our new Honey Bee Zen blog, I received a note from Ian Tait, an old Olympics friend who is now involved in an effort to help bees make it in this tough world of ours. It’s called Feed The Bees. Flying honey bee on lavender Tait pointed me […]
Continue readingCanada Bans Neonicotinoid Pesticides On Most Foods – Finally
Health Canada, after seven long years of study, has finally concluded what a lot of other governments, including all of Europe, have already decided: neonicotinoid pesticides aren’t good for bees and pollinators. Having been the victims of a callous spraying incident by a Richmond farmer, who killed a lot of our bees, we could have […]
Continue readingWorld Supplier of Nosema Medication Fumagilin-B Shuts Down
Beekeepers have an increasingly difficult time keeping their bees healthy. Whether it is mites, a stunning array of viruses, small hive beetle or the two versions nosema, Nosema apis and its more virulent cousin, Nosema ceranae, there seems no end of ways for bees to get sick and die. The Canadian and U.S. governments recently moved to restrict […]
Continue readingPainting New Honey Supers For The Coming Season
It is barely spring here in the Creston Valley, and we’re just gearing up to go into pollination in the cherry orchards for which this place is famous. As I’d previously reported, we bought Swan Valley Honey last July and made the consequential leap of moving from the Vancouver area to Creston. As we wait […]
Continue readingNew honey in our Swan Valley operations in Creston!
It’s that time. We’re pulling the first honey of the season off our new yards in Creston and getting it bottled for delivery to waiting customers. This week is an important one for us: we’re still in the midst of moving to Creston and are juggling two operations at and at Honey Bee Zen Apiaries in […]
Continue readingNew adventures for Honey Bee Zen Apiaries and Swan Valley Honey
We’re moving to Creston! Amanda Goodman Lee and Jeff Lee, the co-owners of Honey Bee Zen Apiaries Ltd, have bought Swan Valley Honey from Doug and Nora Crumback. We will be continuing the tradition of producing great Creston Valley honey. We’re even keeping the same Swan Valley Honey telephone number! For our loyal Honey Bee Zen […]
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