聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Since 2012, Jack and Dianne Wilson-and their daughter and partner Connie-have produced raw, unpasterized honey from the growing number of honeybee hives at their Carlyle-area farm. 'It's Just For You Honey' routinely sells out and is enjoyed by honey aficionados from as far away as Nigeria.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淥ur neighbour's wife is from Nigeria,鈥� says Jack. 鈥淪he was going back for a visit. Over there, their honey is quite diluted (with water) compared to honey here. I gave her two tubs of honey to take with her and I told her: 'I don't care if you have to pitch it at airport security, just take it.'鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淎ll I want is a picture of the guy in Nigeria with our honey.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t turns out they loved it,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚t's pure, unadulterated honey that's not watered down and has absolutely no additives. We just strain it and we don't add anything. It's pure, raw honey.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e've gone to the Arcola Craft show for the past two years and we've always sold out. We've given our honey to fundraisers as prizes or auction items, but other than that, we've never really had to hit the shows and we've never really had to advertise.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淥nce people know about our honey, we get lots of calls. And if they already have had it, they call us for a re-stock,鈥� says Jack. 鈥淭hey try our honey and seem to like it and they give it as gifts. It's a lot of word-of-mouth.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e're trying something new,鈥� he adds. 鈥淲e're selling our honey at The Pearl Boutique in Carlyle, so that will make it easier for people to pick it up.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The couple's product has fans in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and of course, Saskatchewan.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Consumers not only buy it for its taste, many buy it for its health benefits, too.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淥ne young guy buys raw, unpasteurized honey from the health food store,鈥� says Jack. 鈥淗e didn't believe ours was, too. But it's as raw and unpasteurized as you can get.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e don't whip it, heat it, or add anything to it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淗e tried some of ours and said, 'Why am I paying so much for the honey I get there when I can just buy it from you?鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e have another customer who buys our honey for his grandson, who has asthma,鈥� adds Dianne. 鈥淎nd if you have a sore throat, one teaspoon of raw honey with a squeeze of lemon will look after that right away. For diabetics, honey is much better for them than sugar, and you can also use honey instead of sugar when you're baking.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淏ecause of its antibacterial properties, you can put some honey on a cut or a scrape. This works for humans and animals. Vets use it for horses' cuts. One lady was sceptical, but she saw how it works and now she uses it on her animals.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Wilson's careers as honey producers began with Jack's curiosity which led him to a weekend beekeeping course in Saskatoon.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 wanted to do something different,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 saw an ad for a beginner's bee course in Saskatoon and Dianne said, 'Go for it.'鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 was the only one there with no protective gear, but I got along fine and I never got stung,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚 really enjoyed it. After that, we started out with four hives which we got from a guy who was retiring, and now after four years, we're up to a total of 32 hives this winter.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Wilsons have added to their inventory of hives by attending bee auctions, purchasing queen bees from Australia and helping homeowners with bee infestations.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e went to our first bee auction sale in Brandon,鈥� says Dianne. 鈥淵ou go with the idea of buying what you want, and the sellers are there to talk to. You view the bees on video. We learned a lot about the different ways people handle their bees. Of course, when you're ready to buy, you go to the individual farms to buy the bees.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淥ften the hives will come with a queen (bee),鈥� says Jack. 鈥淏ut we also buy them. Most of our queen bees come from Australia and they are mailed to us.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he life cycle of a worker bee is 45 days long,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut a queen's life is usually three years. A queen lays eggs all winter long.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲hen they're mailed to us, the queen comes in a little wooden box with three holes drilled partway through it. There's a wax and sugar plug in those holes, and that's what the queen feeds on. There's also a little screen on the side of the box and when you receive it, you just put a bit of water on it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he queens are loaded in Australia and they land in Vancouver. We've driven to Brandon to pick them up, but we've also had them shipped right here to the post office in Carlyle.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Wilsons have also added to their bee inventory closer to home.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淪ome people near Parkman had a swarm of bees that we took away for them,鈥� says Jack. 鈥淥nce I had the queen, it wasn't hard to get the rest of them. With that bee salvage, we went to the home at about 6 a.m. and there were no bees. When we went back later that day, the whole side of the house was covered.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 They have also used their bees to help their rural neighbours in other ways,
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭wo Saskatoon (berry) u-picks-one near Manor and one near Redvers-were flooded out. The landowners tried a lot of different things, but the berries just weren't coming back; the water had done so much damage. We took some hives out and the bees did their thing and totally revitalized the trees.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚've heard that honey had a fruity taste because of the berries,鈥� adds Dianne. 鈥淲hat the bees feed on really does affect the taste and the colour of the honey.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚f they feed on buckwheat or sunflowers, it's a darker, stronger-tasting honey. The darker honey is often really good for baking.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽鈥淐anola makes for a harder honey that tends to crystalize,鈥� adds Jack. 鈥淎lfalfa doesn't get you as much honey, but it's better, in my opinion, so that's what we use.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淔ireweed is a plant I'd like to experiment with,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd we'd also like to try buckwheat to see what that honey tastes like. If we did that though, we'd take it off separately, to avoid any cross-contamination with our existing honey.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he hives are designed so that the queen bee can't reach the area of the hive where the worker bees store the honey,鈥� says Jack. 鈥淭he honey gets its start from flower nectar, which is collected by the worker bees.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t's naturally broken down into simple sugars and that's where the honey comes from. The hivers are actually big wooden boxes-also called 'soupers'-that are stacked on top of each other. Each souper is about nine inches high and when it's full of honey, it weighs about 80 pounds.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲hen we harvest the honey, I take the beeswax off by hand,鈥� says Dianne. 鈥淚t's liquid, with a soupy consistency and we don't add anything. We don't heat it or whip it, either. We just strain it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽The couple is constantly seeking to learn more and have recently expanded their product line to include a honey salve and small, decorative glass jars of honey which have been used for wedding and party favours.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淎nd whenever we travel, we take some of our honey and we contact other honey producers,鈥� says Dianne.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e've met with a producer in the Niagara area in Ontario and we'll be meeting some bee producers in Prince Edward Island,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚t's interesting, we learn a lot and it's a lot of fun.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e're producers, but we're always learning something new,鈥� says Jack. 鈥淚'd encourage anyone who is thinking of taking up beekeeping to take a course, to see what it's about and if it's for them.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚'm not in competition with anybody,鈥� he adds. 鈥淲e just sell what we produce and we're happy to help people out along the way.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 'Just For You Honey' is available at The Pearl Boutique, 114 Main Street, Carlyle.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 To contact the Wilsons, call (306)-453-2593.
