On a recent vacation to my cottage up in "Northern" Ontario, I took the time to visit a local honey farm. I got the chance to have a little tour of the store and the honey extracting area by one of the owners. She was very helpful and very knowledgeable.
They run 300 colonies and raise their own queens in the spring time. Mites are present in their area as well but the mites are not as rampant as more southern bee hives. I do not understand how the mites could be less rampant; I suppose it could be because the mite breeding season is shorter. Because they do not have as long of a summer as we do.
There honey extraction system allows them to extract a ton (1000 kg) of honey in a days work. That is a lot of honey! The honey is stored in large stainless tanks which are heated and the honey is bottled from these tanks.
They are not able to get as much honey as more southern locations but they still manage to get a decent crop. There is some agriculture in their area and even some Buckwheat fields within driving distance.
What impressed me the most about their operation is that they do a lot of value added work to their honey. They have a retail store where they sell all things that can be made from honey, beeswax etc. The owner has a fairly good sized garden where she plants vegetables to use to mix with honey to her products. It was very impressive. From BBQ sauces to salad dressings!
There is also a good amount of information scattered around the property to teach children about bees and their importance to our environment.
Thanks for the tour!
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