MARCH 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Hopeful beekeepers swarm to courses


teaching apiary skills Success is sweet for those who know how to manage hives


by EMILY BULMER SMITHERS – Bee enthusiasts in the Northwest and Central


Interior have been brushing up on their beekeeping knowledge thanks to two recent courses offered with the support of the BC Honey Producers Association (BCHPA). The instructors, Jon Aebischer in Vanderhoof and Rudi Peters


in Terrace, both hold BCHPA certification and have extensive experience running their own commercial operations. BCHPA developed a curriculum that covers everything one needs to know to keep bees successfully – from basic identification skills including the differences between honeybees and wasps to management, honey production and regulatory requirements. The course also offers a unit on winter survival, an especially


important topic for beekeepers in northern BC. The course includes 20 hours of class instruction plus a field


day where students gain practical experience by performing all the tasks needed to maintain healthy hives right in the instructors’ bee yards. Rudi Peters, owner of Skeena Valley Apiary in Terrace, has


been keeping bees since 2009 and is continually building his business and knowledge of bees. Now managing about 200 hives, he has a passion for bees and enjoys sharing his knowledge and queens in Terrace and as far north as Whitehorse. He was a featured speaker at the annual meeting of the BCHPA this past October in Richmond. “The purpose of the course is to familiarize everyone so that they can keep several hives on their own and to be able to do that without feeling like they are floundering,” he says. “Some people take it because they want to learn more about bees and keep a couple of hives on their own.” Producing honey isn’t the only goal of hopeful beekeepers,


however. “Quite a variety of people who take the course just want to learn more about bees. I have biologists, gardeners and people who couldn’t identify a bee from a wasp at the beginning. It makes it interesting at times because the dynamics in the group change each time you do it,” he says.


Lifelong appreciation Jon Aebischer’s bees forage in the Nechako Valley. Aebischer


owns and operates Sweet Nechako Honey and is one of the major honey producers in the Vanderhoof area. Aebischer’s love for bees started as a young man when he helped his father care for 40 hives on the family farm near Fort Fraser. While attending university in Hawaii, he worked a season at the Kona Queen Company which Aebischer says “was a huge inspiration for me.” Now, with more than 30 years of beekeeping experience and


300 hives of his own, Aebischer is enthusiastic about sharing his knowledge. Aebischer also raises queens and supplies producers throughout northern BC and Alberta. Aebischer says pest management is a key topic beekeepers need to learn, both for the sake of their hives and those of the regional as a whole. “People are getting in there and not getting a really good


foundation, which can lead to a lot of mistakes,” he says. “This means wasting money, but also there's the hygienic factor where their bees will get sick or get parasites, and then they are spreading problems to other beekeepers. Bees fly within three kilometres so they can easily overlap someone else's territory.” He says the course gives everyone a good foundation for


keeping healthy bees, protecting their investment and producing a good product. Both Aebischer and Peters enjoy teaching and hope to continue during the winter months when their duties in the bee yard are less demanding. The Vanderhoof course attracted 12 participants from


January 10 to February 7. The course in Terrace began February 8 and ended March 1, with 10 participants. Aebischer and Peters are heartened by the interest and


growth of northern apiaries. To find a certified instructor in your area, or to find out about the teacher certification program, visit the BC Honey Producers Association at [www.bcbeekeepers.com].


Rudi Peters performs an apiary inspection in Yukon. RUDI PETERS PHOTO Don’t DK10 Series afraid. be KIOTI UTILITY TRACTOR | 45HP - 55HP choose: 0%


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