Kon and Julie Paseschnikoff are excited about the pending release of their first bottling of mead this year.

First bee-to-bottle meadery to open soon in Manitoba

‘Bee Boyzz’ couple raise a glass to the sweet things in life

Manitoba’s first ‘bee-to-bottle’ meadery will launch this fall, with hopes that the sweet honey wine will bring people together. “I want people, when they’re sitting at the table, I want to make sure that Bee Boyzz brought them to the table,” said Kon Paseschnikoff. “When you make mead, you make people happy.” Kon and Julie

Beekeepers see shorter season

Beekeepers see shorter season

Beekeepers have seen their honey supply dry up sooner than usual this year. Ian Steppler, vice-chair of the Manitoba Beekeepers Association, said almost every honey producer he’s spoken to has had a shorter crop than usual this year — especially in the Interlake. Steppler, who farms near Miami, said he usually has honey to late


(Bhofack2/iStock/Getty Images)

New federal standard to expand beer ingredient options

More variety in allowable ingredients and more requirements for declarations are now part of the federal rules on what can be called beer in Canada. The federal government on May 1 announced “modernized” beer standards under Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) — the rules laying out the requirements to be met by a product

Manitoba honey producers are pleased they’ll be exempted from labelling standards aimed at unhealthy foods.

Health Canada relents on honey label

No alert about sugar content as the regulator recognizes honey as a sweetener

Canada’s beekeepers are expressing relief after Health Canada last week exempted honey from proposed new mandatory rules for nutritional food package labels. The regulations, if approved, will require pre-packaged products to carry warning labels if they exceed recommended thresholds for sugar, sodium and saturated fat. Food products containing more than 15 per cent of the

Chris Kirouac of Beeproject Apiaries demonstrates honey extraction at 
Red River College.

Rooftop hives educating college

Red River College continues to grow its urban apiaries with sweet results

It’s all about the honey — sort of. Red River College has expanded its urban beekeeping project in partnership with Beeproject Apiaries, adding three new rooftop beehives on the school’s Notre Dame Campus. But Beeproject founder Chris Kirouac said the expansion is about far more than honey production. “The honey is really a secondary bonus


App sounds sweet to honey producers’ group

App sounds sweet to honey producers’ group

Beekeepers say the BeeConnected app has positive possibilities for their industry, but it’s going to depend a lot on uptake

A smartphone app imported from Australia might be the next big tool for beekeepers to manage their sometimes complicated relationship with surrounding farmers. BeeConnected, an app piloted in Manitoba last year and about to make its full-scale national debut, looks to facilitate communication between beekeepers and pesticide users. The app for Apple and Android allows

Canadian beekeepers saw lower losses in 2014-15 than the previous several winters.

National colony loss one of the lowest in 10 years

Beekeepers say their death losses are falling, but nobody is exactly sure why

Winter bee mortality rates seem to be dropping, according to data submitted to Health Canada by the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists. The group told the Health Department, that has been heavily involved in a multi-stakeholder study into the issue, that all provinces either saw similar death rates, or lower death rates than the previous

dead bees

App promises better communication between farmers and beekeepers

Developed in Australia, BeeConnected will aid co-ordination between farmers and beekeepers and keep bees healthy

CropLife Canada and the Canadian Honey Council are teaming up to bring an app to Canada that promises to help bees and crop agriculture coexist. BeeConnected was developed by CropLife Australia and the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, to allow farmers, beekeepers, and pesticide applicators to collaborate, anonymously, to facilitate best practices to protect pollinators.


Waldemar Damert stands next to honeybees during the Honey Show, held each year at The Forks Market in Winnipeg.

Bee swarms cut into honey production

Fear not the swarm! Honeybee swarms don’t pose a risk to humans, but can hamper honey production

Some Manitoba beekeepers have seen honey production drop this summer as hot, humid weather increased the number of hives that split due to swarms. “It’s usually the humidity and the higher temperatures that make the bees and the hives feel hot, the same way that we do,” said Waldemar Damert, president of the Red River

Business development support was good to get their small honeybee apiary and meadery up and running in Alberta, 
says Cherie Andrews, who co-owns Chinook Arch Meadery with her husband Art.

For direct-farm marketers, Alberta is a great place to operate

Support includes help to finance travel and research, and allowing sales of alcohol in farmers’ markets

Direct-farm marketers in Alberta have their share of regulatory hurdles to gripe about, but they have distinct advantages and supports which marketers in other provinces would envy. When apiary owners Cherie and Art Andrews were first eyeing prospects to start making mead (honey wine), the province gave them several kick-starts, not the least of which