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Welcome to this exciting adventure of discovering secrets of the colony.  Bees are amazing creatures.

Jolanta Dabrowski, MSc (Entomology and phytopathology)
Jolanta Dabrowski, MSc (Entomology and phytopathology)

Our main focus is on sharing  knowledge about sustainable beekeeping and the propagation of survivor bees.  We collect swarms and by doing that, we help bees find a safe home and also improve the survivability of our local colonies.

Our motto: “Observe and learn. Bees know better than us what is best for them.”

Consultation
Consultation
Our class at the bee yard
Our class at the bee yard
Horizontal hive inspection
Long Langstroth hive frames inspection

Events

Our Events

In 2021 we participated in the virtual Kitchener Seedy Saturday on Feb 27th. It was exciting to present “Bees and Flowers”. In that presentation I was sharing knowledge why bees and flowers need each other and what to look for when choosing plants for a pollinators friendly garden.

Previous events

2020

Kitchener –  Saturday, Feb 29th, 9:00am – 2:30pm – Kitchener Public Library, 85 Queen Street N. A lot of people were dropping by at our booth to say hello. Also my presentation “Bees and Flowers” went great. Lots of questions, great audience.

London – Saturday, March 7th, 10am-3pm – Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre, 656 Elizabeth Street. It was exciting to talk bees with several guests visiting our booth.

St. Thomas – Saturday, March 21st, 10am-3pm – St. Thomas Public Library, 153 Curtis Street. We had a lovely chat with our customers at our booth.

2019

I had a great time talking to customers at Lovely Lambeth Christmas Market on Dec 1st. A lot of nice guests.

It was great to chat with so many people at our table at Seedy Saturday in St. Thomas on Feb 16th, 2019. Also thank you for a warm welcome at my presentation about backyard beekeeping.

We also were present at Seedy Saturday in London, ON on March 2nd, 2019. Thanks for dropping by at our table to say hello.

This year we participated together with The Living Centre at the Go Wild Grow Wild Green Expo on April 6th in London, ON. Thank you for visiting us to chat about bees and get on the list for the field trip to our bee yard.

At Go Wild Grow Wild Green Expo
At Go Wild Grow Wild Green Expo 2019

Continue reading “Events”

Classes

Please do not hesitate to contact us, if you have more questions regarding our beekeeping classes.

We offer beekeeping courses of different levels as separate classes and as the five part series – an intensive training on ZOOM (as it is a convenient way for everyone who wants to participate ) and the hands-on workshop at our educational apiary (The Nuc Installation and Next Steps).

Each course is packed with an information which will help you to become a successful beekeeper. You are going to learn useful tips, and the newest information about honey bees and beekeeping.

Our online classes via ZOOM were very successful for last few years.  Our every  ZOOM course is a live training where participants can interact and ask questions. 

At our educational apiary we offer several workshops, like the hands-on workshop which is an additional part of our training for beginners (The Nuc Installation and Next Steps), the introductory level course, advanced, and workshops of various level of beekeeping knowledge.

If you are looking for the full scope of understanding what the beekeeping art is about ( and it is not only about keeping bees) aim for the Natural Beekeeping for Beginners series (Five courses/hands-on workshops through the season).

Our class schedule for the 2024 season

Beginners Class
Beekeeping – How to Start, online: Feb 24th, Nov 16th
A-Z Beekeeping for Beginners, online bootcamp: (Mar 2nd and Mar 9th), (Apr 6th and Apr 13th),
Nuc Installation and Next Steps, hands-on, apiary  workshop for the ZOOM course  participants only: May 25th,
Beekeeping Introductory Workshop, apiary : Jun 1st or  Jun 15th
Hive Maintenance During Your First Year : Jun 22nd,
Fall Hive Assessment: Sep 7th
Winter Preparations: Oct 5th

Advanced Class
Sustainable Beekeeping, online: March 16th and 23rd Making Splits and Nucs apiary workshop,: June 8th Making Nucs, Hands-on, one-on-one: June 9th

Field trip
Field Trip to our Educational Apiary June 2nd, 16th, 23rd, or 29th

Other Classes
Bees and Flowers (Pollinator friendly garden) : March 30th

Bee yard field trip

Services

Swarm Removal

The honeybee swarm in a tree
The honeybee swarm in a tree

Free of charge service.

Do not call an exterminator! Honeybees can be safely removed from your property alive, without using toxic chemicals.

Do not spray the cluster. Let us know exactly where the bees are, how high the cluster is and where it is.

Swarm removal
Swarm removal

Contact us as soon as possible. The swarm removal is a free service.

Important!

This is how the bald faced hornet nest looks like. The yellow jacket nest has smoother walls.

Hornet nest
Hornet nest

Honeybee colony extraction

We retrieve honeybee nests from inside trees, voids in your house, and other places. Depending on the circumstances we use an extraction method or a trap-out.

Make sure that what you have are honeybees, not wasps or hornets.
Take a picture of the site and the bees if you can, so we can assess the job.

Extraction of the honeybee colony/cut-out
Extraction of the honeybee colony/cut-out

Honeybees are small and furry with golden or brown stripes, yellow jackets are bright yellow and shiny.  Contact us, if you have honeybees that have established a colony.

A bee trap-out
A bee trap-out

The cost of the established hive removal varies.  Please contact us for a quote.

If you wish to donate to our bee rescue activity, please contact us.

Open hive build by feral honeybees
Open hive built by feral honeybees

Honeybee swarm boxes placement

Free of charge service. Have you had a problem with a feral honey bee colony on your property before? Sometimes it can be an expensive and annoying headache to remove them, if they are between walls.

Even if you decide not to call a beekeeper to help you with an extraction and you choose to call an exterminator or spray them yourself, the colony has to be removed anyway and all openings have to be sealed. A dead colony may attract mice, cockroaches and other  vermin and also will rot.

Do you want to avoid this problem in the future?

If you contact us we will set up a bee trap near the place which was occupied by them in the past for free.

A swarm box
A swarm box

When a swarm will pay you an unwanted visit, it will move into the swarm box instead of your porch or a nearby tree. This way instead of having a feral colony in an unwanted place, you will provide them, as well as yourself, with a better option. Once the swarm box is occupied we will provide the colony with a new, safe home in our apiary.

Small garden pollination

London, ON and surrounding area.  If you have a vegetable garden free of pesticides or herbicides and you want a better crop, but there is lack of pollinators in your area, please contact us.  Our bees will help you to pollinate your flowering trees, bushes, strawberries, and vegetables, like beans, cucumber, zucchini, or squash in your garden.

Please contact us for details.  (This service is not offered to commercial farms or orchards where pesticides were used. Small, organic or permaculture farms are welcomed to inquire.)

  1. “Host a hive” program. There is a small, nominal fee per hive to cover our travel costs (please inquire). You will host, during the season, one or two startup colony hives on your property with a mutual benefit for your garden and our bees. We will take care of our bees and if the season is bountiful, you will get a jar of raw, unpasteurized honey (first year colonies sometime will not produce an extra honey).
  2. “Sponsor a hive” program. Please inquire about cost. One to two startup hives,  will be placed on your property in May (an exact day can vary depending on temperature and weather) Hive/hives will be removed next year, if you decide not to repeat the sponsorship for the next season. It will give you an opportunity to participate in the whole year hive maintenance. Every ten days – two weeks we will visit to check on the bees and you can participate in one-on-one, hands-on “beekeeping in a nutshell”.
  3. “Sponsor a hive” program for companies/organizations. Payments are on monthly basis.  On the ground or rooftops. Please inquire for details.
  4. If you are interested in offering space to several hives all year around, we would love to hear from you.

    Hosting a hive
    Hosting a hive in a backyard
Consultation in person

We provide one-on-one consultation for beginners. Please contact us for details.

One-on-one consultation
One-on-one consultation

Virtual Interactive Consultation

We offer an online interactive consultation for first year natural beekeepers and also a troubleshooting consultation for any natural beekeeper who needs it.

Note: We do not offer a chemical treatment consultation of the hive.

The seven month subscription package contains three online consultations (one hour each) via ZOOM and three email consultations per month. Unused consultations for the given month can be moved forward to another month in the span of your seven month subscription.
Closeup pictures and short videos of the problem are encouraged. They can be taken by phone, but they have to be sharp/ clear enough for the problem to be visible. You need to send them to us before the date of the consultation, to get the most out of the meeting. You can share them with us using Google Drive, Dropbox or an email.

Monthly subscription for the span of seven months

One time virtual consultation,  $50 per hour.

Mentoring

Do you need to learn a hands-on side of beekeeping from an experienced beekeeper? Please contact us for details.

Mentoring at the client's backyard
Mentoring at the client’s backyard

Products

Bees – nucleus hives

Our nucs (nucleus hives) have a queen and worker bees which were raised locally.  We do not treat our beehives with any chemicals or antibiotics. They are bred for survival in a cold winter climate.  We use natural selection and natural beekeeping methods to achieve it.

Our 2020 nuc list is closed. Now we are taking orders for Spring 2021 nucs.  A nucleus colony has a first year queen, a lot of worker bees, 2 frames of brood (baby bees still in their cells) a frame of honey and pollen and an empty comb frame for the queen to lay eggs in.

Raw, unpasteurized  Honey

Honey on a comb. Yum!
Honey on a comb. Yum!

  • Honey on a comb
  • Chunky honey (liquid honey together with a chunk of a comb in a jar)
  • Wildflower Honey 500 g or 1000 g jar
  • Stocking-stuffer 60 g jar
  • Wedding favours
    • 45 ml/60 g hexagonal jar of honey with mini skep beeswax candle
    • 45 ml/60 g hexagonal jar of honey
Chemical Free Beeswax

Our beeswax is pure, raw, triple filtered, and free of chemicals and antibiotics.

Building a new comb with a natural wax
Starting a new comb with a natural wax