Our journey in beekeeping has been filled with wonderful opportunities and experiences, and we have been fortunate to receive support from various mentors and organizations. Our beekeeping journey started with Bill Saunders, our first year mentor, and continued with beginner and intermediate courses from Bill Stagg's Sweetacre Apiaries, and work experience mentorship with Emily Huxter from Wild Antho and John Gates. These people have all been instrumental in lifting us up and supporting our growth as beekeepers, and we continue to learn from them to this day.

In 2020, we welcomed Neil Keeble to our team, an experienced beekeeper with years of experience in large scale commercial operations in New Zealand. In 2021, we were presented with an opportunity to increase our operations through a purchase agreement with John Gates for his business in Armstrong BC. Working closely with John throughout the year, we supported the transition and learned a great deal in the process.

We are also grateful for the support provided by the Province of British Columbia Apiculturist's Office, BC Honey Producer's Association, BC Bee Breeders Association, and BC Tech Transfer Program (in development). As a member of the BC Honey Producers Association Executive as 2nd Vice President, I am excited to contribute to the organization and draw from decades of volunteer BOD/Executive experiences combined with my passion for beekeeping.

In our local community, we have a growing group of beekeepers, and I help organize our informal community beekeeping club. Although we are not (yet) a branch club of the BCHPA, we meet quarterly to discuss seasonal best practices, share experiences, and make comparisons. If you are interested in connecting with our local beekeeping community meetings or have any questions about the local beekeeping scene, please feel free to contact me anytime at hello@beekindhoneybees.ca.

Beekeeping is universal, and we are all connected in our shared knowledge and experiences. We are grateful for everyone we have met through beekeeping and look forward to expanding our team and experiences as we grow our operations into the future. If you are interested in joining our team, please take a look at our available employment positions.