Prince George beekeeper community flowering

Neil Hutt is a local beekeeper who operates the Bee Hutt Apiary with his wife, Sarita Parmar.

His business operates more than 100 hives between Prince George, Fraser Lake, and Vanderhoof, and sells its products locally.

Before Hutt's retirement, he kept around 15 hives as a hobby. However, shortly after his retirement, he began adding to his collection, and with some help from the Prince George branch of the BC Honey Producers' Association, he evolved his hobby into a full-time business.

“It depends on what you want out of it,” said Hutt. “I'd say from April to November, it’s very full-time. Then after they’ve been put away for the winter, if you want to grow your apiary, there’s lots of work that goes into building new hives.”

Hutt's bees also produce a special kind of honey, one he describes as the “champagne” of honey.

“I stick them in the area north of Fort St. James, up by Takla Lake, because we found some fireweed up there,” said Hutt. “Fireweed honey is one of the most sought-after honeys; it's often called the champagne of honey. If you Google it, it’s often listed in the top ten lists for honeys across the world. It’s probably the lightest you’ll find and the mellowest and sweetest you’ll find.”

One advantage of his setup in Fort St. James is that its natural setting allows for a diverse diet for the bees, in addition to the fireweed, something that improves both the bees’ health and the quality of the honey.

“You can't just stick it out in the field,” said Hutt. “Out there, there’s dandelions, clover, alfalfa, and all sorts of different nectar sources. You can find hills and mountainsides just covered — especially after these fires we’ve had — just covered in that pink and purple blossom. That’s the fireweed. I stick them out there and you’ve got to double bear-fence it because you’re out in the middle of nowhere. The biggest concern out there is keeping bears out.”

Hutt is a huge advocate for bee health and wellness, not only because of his business but also due to environmental concerns.

“A third of our food would be non-existent without the honey bee. There are other pollinators out there, but the bees do almost all of it… I’ve read reports that if you lose the honey bees—just the honey bees, mind you—the Earth will lose 30 per cent of its food production. It’s catastrophic to lose 5 per cent of it, let alone a third.”

Currently, Hutt’s biggest challenge when it comes to maintaining his business and its hives is preventing disease and protecting the bees' health.

“Well, I think the biggest challenge and the biggest issue with them right now is the Varroa mites,” said Hutt. “That was introduced in 1984 and it came over. It wasn’t always present in the Western honeybee. It crossed over from the Sierra honeybee and was brought over to North America. The mites themselves don’t kill the bees, but they weaken them to the extent that they can’t fight the other viruses, parasites, and diseases that honeybees often fight against. They can’t fight them anymore, and it just wipes out hives. That’s probably the biggest challenge.”

Another key issue facing honeybees, Hutt mentioned, is monoculture, where swaths of fields reduce the honeybee’s pollination options to just one plant. Hutt likens it to eating steak and eggs every day; it might be alright in the short term, but you’ll start to see a drastic change the longer you keep up the habit.

Beekeeping does have a steep learning curve. Many newcomers struggle with maintaining the health and honey production of a few hives, let alone more than 100.

Hutt told The Citizen that the Prince George Beekeepers' Association is instrumental in providing early advice and assistance to newcomers.

“It’s led by a group of good people,” said Hutt. “There’s something that I’ve noticed in beekeeping, and beekeepers — not just in Prince George, but everywhere — they’re a very giving community. As far as giving information, nobody’s out there trying to outdo the other. It just seems to me that they’re here to help. You could phone any beekeeper with a question and they’re going to give you an answer that they think is best based on their knowledge. There’s no rivalry. There’s no hidden agenda or anything. It’s kind of neat.”

Just in case you were wondering, yes, Hutt does get stung … a lot.

“Even when you’re wearing a bee suit,” said Hutt. “They aren’t foolproof, and it’s not that they even get inside the suit. What happens is you work, and let’s say it’s hot out, so you’re wearing a T-shirt or just a regular shirt, and you’re bending over. The suit is tied against your skin, so they can sting through the suit. And lots of times the veil will get pressed up against your face and then you get stung on your nose. If I had to guess, I get stung 50 to 60 times a year.”

Hutt is a big supporter of local businesses and local products, so much so that he has a unique boycott in place.

“I was getting my queen bees from Kona in the U.S., but I’m not going to do that anymore,” said Hutt. “I’m not buying from the U.S. as much as I can. They’re good queens, but I’m not going to buy from the U.S. anymore. I was thinking of maybe buying queens from Chile.”

Bee Hutt Apiary currently offers its products in 12, soon-to-be 14, retail locations in Prince George, Vanderhoof, Fort St. James and Burns Lake. They will also soon be adding Alberta to the list of locations.

Their products include liquid and creamed honey, specialty honey, beeswax candles, bath salts, and chapsticks/lip balms, among others.

For more information, visit their Facebook page.