Is your honey raw?

Yes! Our honey has not undergone any treatment or process that includes additives heat or filtering. Our honey is pure, all natural, straight from the hive with organic beekeeping practices.

What is the difference between store bought honey and Findlay Creek Honey?

Canadian packaging (Product of Canada) laws permit store bought honey to contain additives such as: cane sugar, corn syrup, beet sugar, food coloring and other non-honey ingredients. Findlay Creek Apiary honey is 100% pure. When people say that they don't like honey, it is usually because they have only ever tried store bought honey. There IS a difference!

Have you ever been stung?

Absolutely! All active beekeepers get stung regularly. However, the more experienced a beekeeper becomes, the more skillful they are at managing their colonies in a way that does not alarm the bees.

Does it hurt to get stung? 

Yes, however the worst part of being stung for most people is not the pain from the sting but the reaction to the bee venom that can occur. Some people will experience swelling, itchiness, pain, cramping and other allergic reactions that can last for days. Many Beekeepers develop a tolerance to the bee venom and although the initial prick from the sting does hurt a lot, we mostly have no reactions swelling or itching and the sting is quickly forgotten.

I got stung by a "bee" once and it hurt so bad I'll never forget it.

This is most likely not true. The chances that you got stung by a Honey bee is unlikely. Honey bees are strictly defensive and die when they sting. The more likely culprit was probably a yellow jacket, wasp or hornet. Honey Bee stings are rare! Unless you are near a colony

What is the difference between a colony and a hive?

A colony is the living group of bees. A hive is the shelter they live in.

Is it easy to keep bees?

No. It is actually quite difficult. Once you have the required knowledge, systems and skill sets, beekeeping can be very rewarding, However, it requires a long term commitment and a consistent routine that can become complicated. New keepers should educate themselves thoroughly before considering this as a hobby. It requires very heavy lifting, advanced annual planning and approximately 1 hour of chores, per week, per colony.  It is similar to dairy farming which requires certain regular tasks. If the tasks are not completed on time, the Cows (bees) will get sick and they will not produce milk (Honey).  We offer a hive rental program And OR a hive hosting program for prospective keepers to try it out before committing fully to this expensive hobby. 

Why does honey crystallize?

 All "real" honey can crystallize. How quickly your honey will crystallize depends on many factors. The level of glucose in the original flower nectar, the moisture level of the honey, the temperature and barometric pressure at which the honey was harvested as well as the temperature that the honey is stored at can each affect honey crystallization. for more information see our page about "crystalized" in this section.

What should I do if my honey crystallizes?

As honey never goes bad, you have two simple options if your honey crystallizes; Eat it or heat it! Many people prefer the consistency of crystallized Honey as it is still tasty but has a different consistency and is less messy to eat. If you prefer liquid honey, simply sit your jar of honey in a bowl of warm water to melt if back to its liquid form. 

How long can honey last?

Natural Honey has a virtually indefinite shelf life. As long as the kitchen utensils used are clean and do not introduce bread crumbs or other foreign bacteria, your honey will be the longest lasting ingredient in your kitchen. 

Can I come to see your bees?

No. We cannot offer tours to the general public. There are 2 main reasons why we don't. First, we maintain an agriculturally bio secure area and cannot risk the infection of our bees. Second and most importantly, as bee hive theft/vandalism is a very real concern we keep the exact location of our colonies a secret. 

Is it true that the queen is the only female bee? -John Den Boer

The Queen is not the only female . In fact most bees are female. A mature healthy Honey bee colony can have up to 60,000 bees, but here will be only 1 Queen. She is the mother of all the bees in the colony, her only duty is to lay eggs. There will be a few thousand Drones (male bees). The Drone's only function is to mate with a Queen. Once the Queen is mated the drones become unnecessary. The remainder of the bees in a colony are all female (workers). Worker bees do all the work. In the first few hours of a female worker bee's life she cleans the cell she emerged from and assumes the role of a hive cleaner, helping to clean the hive. At day 24 she becomes a nurse bee taking care of and feeding the bee larva in their cells. At day 32 she becomes a wax producer and spends her time making comb. on day 40 she becomes a guard bee and will defend her colony against intruders. At day 43 and for the rest of their short lives, female workers will be foragers collecting nectar and pollen and will eventually die as a result of having their wings wear out from flying several thousand kilometers.

Can't find an answer to your question?

Send us your questions to: Honey@Findlaycreekapiary.ca and we will answer it here.