What does it take to be a beekeeper?

It’s a tough job that requires extreme attention and care throughout all 4 seasons. We had a chance to dive into the topic of beekeeping with Jennifer Krezan, Founder of Hiveology, located in the south Okanagan region. With over 700 acres, it is the only farm in BC where certified organic honey can be harvested. She founded the company with the goal to raise awareness about the importance of bees in our ecosystems and to produce great quality products that support a healthy lifestyle.

Let’s learn more about how Hiveology produces all-natural, eco-friendly, cruelty-free, plant-based by-products from Okanagan bees.

J: Jennifer Krezan, Hiveology

P: Pendulum Magazine

P: Tell us what’s different about Hiveology from other honey-producing companies.

J: Hiveology is a sustainable apiculture company located in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. Our practices are organic with animal welfare and conservation first and foremost. We use gentle yet science-based methods to improve the health of our local honeybee population. We harvest only what is in excess of required honey stores for successful overwintering of Hiveology colonies which in turn, restores balance in nature. 

Always pure and raw, Hiveology Honey and Beeswax is derived from our organic apiaries with minimal intervention. Certified Organic farm location, biodiversity, and regenerative farming are integrative solutions to our approach to help correct soil fertility. Together we can help solve planetary-scale problems we are currently facing by supporting local transparent sustainable companies like Hiveology.

Hiveology isn’t just a honey company based on scientifically proven methods. I chose the name or created the name Hiveology, based on my own personal principles in life. Be a good person, be kind. Be kind to each other, to ourselves, to animals, to nature. If we take care of these things eventually that good energy makes its way around the planet and comes back to us.

P: What’s your background and how did this lead to you starting Hiveology? We understand the story has to do with your obsession with butterflies at a young age - how did you connect the dots to your current beekeeper role?

J: My childhood experiences triggered my interest in entomology.

I lived on a farm in the lower mainland and we raised chickens, ducks, birds, sheep, cats, dogs, hamsters and my beloved horses. We also had a beautiful garden where I constantly was up to my ankles in dirt trying to grow the biggest squash and tallest sunflowers of the land! I always felt so connected to nature and animals. I bought books about butterflies and studied them intensely. Then I bought a net and a butterfly enclosure in hopes of catching one just to study them. I remember waiting in the garden for what seemed like hours sometimes just to get a glimpse of one. Then one day I decided to catch one and give it an enclosure that was just like today what we would refer to as a pollinator habitat, except, enclosed.

The butterfly laid an egg which to my delight completed all the phases of development and hatched out in front of me. My mind was blown. Of all my interactions I had on the farm with the animals this experience was life-changing for me. I documented in my journal daily so I knew approximately when it would hatch out (3-5 days). I hardly slept for those days so I didn’t miss the hatching out.

I continued to study these butterflies I was raising and soon they died. I gave them a proper burial and cried for weeks. I realized what I had done and the mistake was that I had captured these beautiful creatures and relocated them to a habitat that was convenient for me not them. Also, in my research and readings I had apparently skipped over the part that their lifecycle was only 10-12 days. So from then on I practiced catch and release only with my net. 

I had also become very attached to the animals on our farm and I realized what meat was, what I was eating. I really couldn’t wrap my head around the whole thing so I stopped eating it. I became vegan when I was 11 years old. I actually didn’t even know what vegetarian or vegan was until people would comment to me and say “oh you’re a vegetarian?!” At that time it seemed so extreme to everyone. At times I was laughed at, even bullied. I’m thankful now that people are becoming more informed about their choices and the impacts their choices have.  

Later in life I started my journey was to become a Veterinarian. I studied Animal Health Sciences at UBC with a special interest in Animal Welfare. I went on to complete training as a Peace Officer for Animal Cruelty Investigations in BC. Although work in that area is so very much needed and takes a special person, I quickly realized that I was not that person. I felt I needed to focus my energy in a more positive environment so I transitioned to a position as a Veterinary consultant. My position there is to train practitioners in the area of medical laser implementation in Western Canada and Hawaii. 

Circling back to my interest in entomology I decided to once again continue my studies and entered into a degree program in Agriculture Science with a major in Sustainable Food and Farming. That program led me to complete studies in Hawaii and learn about coffee farming, production, and natural energy resources (solar, wind power, etc.). Sustainable and Organic farming is the norm there and I was so inspired to do something like that here. I just wasn’t sure what that was specifically.

While completing a course in Pollinator Habitat and Biology I learned how important all pollinators are which included birds, bats, butterflies, and of course…bees! I took advantage of completing an Independent Study of the Hawaiian Kamehameha butterfly and the dangers of how pollinator habitat is disappearing at an alarming rate for various reasons that we face here too. Still I couldn’t stop thinking about the connection to our food and remembered all those butterflies and bees that came to my garden as a child. 

Within the AG Science program there was a beekeeping course available so I went for it. It was quite intensive and I really had to apply myself to gain the knowledge I needed to do this, or if I was going to do this. So, while flying across Canada and to Hawaii to visit my veterinary clients, I studied, studied, studied. I worked on a project and designed what would eventually become Hiveology. I received 100% on this project and the professor asked me when I was opening my business. It seemed like it was a distance away but I decided to go for it at the end of 2018 and by spring 2019 I had launched the company. Life has not been the same ever since. I really had no idea how much interest there was in bees.

Fast forward one year to today and you will find me caring for the bees a few days a week at the various locations. When I’m not there you will find me at one of the farmers markets in the Okanagan Valley throughout the week.

P: One of the key goals of Hiveology is to spread awareness about the importance of bees in our ecosystem. Can you tell us why they are so important?

J: Without bees there will be much less food available and therefore prices will increase exponentially. The alternative is to pollinate every tree and vegetable by hand!

Bees are the key to how much food we get to eat. One in three bites of food we eat is food that has been pollinated by bees. Not just honeybees, native bees too. Different species of bees are designed to pollinate different kinds of flowers. If you take, for example, Bumble Bees. They are much bigger and heavier in their bodies than honeybees and are therefore not designed to fly great distances to forage like honeybees are. An example of pollination by Bumblebees is to bring a nest into a hothouse tomato greenhouse for pollination. Bumblebees do not collect nectar nor do they make honey.

Also honeybees’ bodies are designed for pollinating flowers that produce nectar. A few examples are from the rose family including blackberries and raspberries. They also love any of the squash family.

Mason Bees are excellent for apple tree pollination. 2 to 3 females can pollinate a mature apple tree within one day as opposed to 20-25 honeybees that will pollinate an apple tree and take longer to do it. Weekend classes are available at local garden centers, you can buy a kit for your backyard and get going right away. They are excellent pollinators and are gentle so you avoid the risk of being stung. Also, these bees are solitary bees which means they don’t have a giant colony like social honeybees do. They don’t create a superorganism as honeybees do. There is no honey to collect from Mason bees as they are more interested in pollen collection to provision their nests. 

Farmers depend on pollination services by beekeepers and is an integral part of their spring management and budget and they usually book their pollination services well in advance, sometimes a whole year, to ensure that they get their place in line. I am considered a sideliner in beekeeping which means I’m working on a much smaller scale than the commercial beekeepers do. The commercial beekeepers will migrate their beehives from province to province on big trucks and after 9-10 days move them to the next orchard. I have under 50 hives whereas a commercial beekeeper has anywhere from 100 hives and into the thousands. You might say I practice boutique beekeeping?! 

P: We know beekeeping isn’t an easy task and requires constant attention year-round. Can you describe to us the beekeeping process?

J: In beekeeping there are 4 seasons in Canada. Beginning February I visit the hives to check their food stores. These welfare checks are very quick. I quickly crack open the hive top and pull out a honey frame from the outer edge of the box. If it’s empty then I replace that frame with a full-frame I held back from last summer harvest. At this time I ensure the winter wraps around the beehives are secure. This prevents any cold wind from entering the hives. As the weather warms up I will open and inspect each colony to check for overall health and diagnose any foreseeable illness or problems that could weaken the colony. One huge problem in beekeeping is the Varroa Destructor which is a mite that lives off of the larvae in the colony. It is one of the most common problems for colony collapse. If I see a problem then I treat for mites. I’m also checking for Queens in each colony to ensure she is in there. She is vital to the survival of a honeybee colony as she lays thousands of eggs a day starting in the late spring.

By may and end of June things are ramping up and I have to be conscious of possible colony reproduction and split the colonies in half to prevent swarms. So what takes me 2 days a week is now more frequent and I am beekeeping every 5 days at multiple locations as opposed to once every few weeks. During this time the honeybees are bringing in a lot of nectar and converting it to honey. Most beekeepers will get about 80-100 pounds of honey per hive. My methods are a little different and my placement is essential for sustainability. My harvest is at least 300 pounds of honey per hive. More hives don’t necessarily mean more honey!

Beginning of July I am harvesting those honey boxes. I always leave at least one full honey super per colony. This will be their winter food. I prefer to practice this sustainable method as it is their food, they collected it. It also contains pollen (50% more protein per unit than beef), an essential protein required for the ongoing production of brood ( eggs, larvae, baby bees). Otherwise, most beekeepers harvest all of the honey and feed them sugar water. My methodologies have been proven in the health of my colonies and I feel good knowing I didn’t rob them of the food that they collected for themselves, for their survival.

Once the honey has been collected it is taken to the processing facility where it goes through a very gentle, non-heated filtration process. We never pasteurize or add heat as this destroys the beneficial enzymes in honey that make it a superfood. Once filtered it goes to bottling. Honey can remain in bottles for many years without any problems; honey never expires! It’s a superfood!

After honey harvest things settle down nicely and there are fewer problems to be concerned about as we do in the spring. At this point I am now beekeeping every 10 days or so and I am now applying organic treatments for honeybee health. It’s so important to ensure their health is good going into the fall months because if their health is declining by fall and the problem has not been addressed, it is unlikely that the colony will successfully live through winter. Much of your success as a beekeeper is dependent upon your ability to observe, assess, diagnose, and treat in a timely manner. I have found in beekeeping that timing is everything so there are days when I had plans to complete other projects but those are immediately put on hold if I see something that needs to be tended to and rechecked in a few days. 

I start making plans for the winterization of my beehives by the beginning of October. Mother Nature has her own plans and she doesn’t give me the manual so I have a plan in place but I am ready to deploy at any given time should her plan be different than mine. Winterization of my hives includes installing mouse guards. Mice love getting into a beehive in the winter and they can squeeze through the tiniest of holes, especially if they know the reward on the inside. It’s nice and warm at 33 degrees Celcius (92 degrees f) and there’s plenty of honey and honeycomb for hitchhikers like mice to snack on.

If you have a mouse problem and they eat the honeybees’ winter resources the colony could potentially starve. So this is a humane and sustainable preventative measure. I push the beehives together into a block of 4 on top of a pallet and then I wrap the colonies all together with a foil bubble wrap insulation. This prevents harsh cold winds from entering the hive. Bees make a glue-like substance called propolis which is highly anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal and they place this substance like concrete to act as a barrier against water and cold in the spaces of the hive boxes. It’s important that they still have ventilation to prevent the humidity from getting too high. This would create a dangerous mushroom effect and the bees would become damp. Bees can handle cold temperatures but not cold and wet. If you think of your home, it is insulated and you have windows that you can open and vents in the house to move air through constantly. Once they are wrapped up with vents open but reduced, I place a pillow top made out of insulation on top of the four hives and tie it down for the winter. 

Many people ask me what do the bees do in the winter. Do they hibernate? The answer is no, they do not hibernate! They are awake for the entire winter, they do sleep, they do eat. They form a tight ball-like cluster in the center of the hive box and vibrate their thorax area to generate heat. This maintains the ambient temperature (35 degrees Celcius) needed for their overwinter survival. They are warm-blooded like us and require carbohydrates for energy to do this which they get from their honey stores. 

That is a year of condensed beekeeping! The process starts all over again in February.

P: Can you tell us about some of the signature Hiveology products?

J: Our coveted Reusable Beeswax Food Wraps have been a very popular and sustainable household item this year. These wraps are intended to replace single-use plastics that ultimately end up in our landfills and pollute oceans.

A few other features of the Hiveology beeswax provisions are that I only complete a gentle filter process once which keeps a lot of the propolis and honey active in the mixture. Remember propolis' benefits: It is anti-bacterial, antiviral, and antifungal. This means you will preserve your foods for longer using our wraps as opposed to single-use plastic wrap that offers none of these benefits.

These come in a variety of beautiful patterns and sizes to suit your needs. Use these to wrap and extend the life of your cheeses, bowl covers, snack packs, food storage like veggies and leftovers. They are made of 100% cotton and infused with the beeswax provisions that I harvest from our hives. Try to buy from an organic source, otherwise, be cognisant of pesticides that potentially could end up in the beeswax wraps you are using to wrap your foods in. Another feature to these wraps is that they are compostable at the end of their lifecycle which is at least one year of regular use and washing!

Raw Honey 

As I previously mentioned Hiveology uses minimal intervention with our methods to provide the highest quality products closest to nature. We never add heat or pasteurize our honey. The smell, taste, and color depending on the types of flowers visited by the bees in their location.

Hiveology has three different varieties of honey.

1. Hiveology Wildflower Honey – amber in color, notes of dandelion, Borage, apple blossom, Haskap berries, blackberries, peach blossom, cherry blossom, sweet clover.

2. Hiveology Sweet Clover – Light in color, sweeter than other varietals, collected from hives located next to a huge cover crop of clover planted between rows of a 20acre organic apple orchard. 

3. Buckwheat Honey – Dark amber in color and has sharp notes of grass and hay. Molasses on the palate. Not easy to find as most of the crops are located in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We have a mono-crop of buckwheat in the Northern Okanagan region. Buckwheat is highest in antioxidants and is super antimicrobial (apply on skin to superior exfoliating action, cleansing and moisturizing). Buckwheat honey is almost a perfect match of what our own Ph levels are of skin! This varietal is a much smaller crop therefore we have less to offer but the demand is high. For that reason we will hold some back this year to put into our new honey club we are launching in the fall of 2020. Connect with us on Instagram to learn more about that.

P: So with these products, how can we integrate them into our diet?

J: You can put it into your teas, use instead of sugar or sweeteners (honey is twice as sweet as sugar), use it in your kitchen recipes, soothing for sore throat and cough, excellent skin treatment.

P: We’ve also heard a lot about the Honey Lavender Simple Syrup, tell us about this product which has been hailed as a ‘true taste of the Okanagan’.

J: A decadent, sweet treat made of Hiveology Honey and a Lavender Tea Steep. That’s it! One of our most popular products that can be used to sweeten your tea and coffee (my fave is a London Fog), pour it over your breakfast oatmeal, toss it up with some olive oil for a salad dressing, and of course cocktails! I love an Old Fashioned but don’t love sugar so this is actually why we made this product. 

2 other notable products in the Hiveology line up would be their honey-coated popcorn and upcoming honey wine. The highly addictive, honey-coated popcorn is available in several flavors. Honey Salt (pairs beautiful with a glass of Chardonnay), Honey Lavender, Honey Garlic, and Honey Dill.

For wine lovers, Hiveology is collaborating with one of the most talented winemakers in the Okanagan, Michal Mosny, the proprietor of Wine Makers Cut in Oliver, BC, to create a honey wine.

We would love to enjoy a glass of this over the summer on our patio! Follow Hiveology on Instagram for updates and details about this product launch.

We want to thank Jennifer for taking the time to chat with us and share her insights and knowledge on the world of beekeeping. Definitely a fascinating and different topic for us to be exploring, but so crucial for our food chain and ecosystem that we should all take note of how even a small change can impact the environment.

Now, given the weather is warming up and shops are cautiously re-opening and relaxing our isolation measures, we will treat ourselves to some Honey Lavender Syrup to create a refreshing spritzer for our afternoon patio break!