Sharing their sweet lifestyle career is the bee knees for the local couple


Honeycomb discovered on country estate has become a catalyst for intentionally wild beekeeping business

Debbie Gray and Jeff Chalmers are creating a buzz in beekeeping, one pot of honey at a time.

The Creemore couple founded Heritage Bee Company in 2016 with the mission to follow a path of trust in nature, not control over it. The duo believe that natural beekeeping helps create healthy bee populations, which are essential for the pollination of plants and vegetables, and in turn, necessary for a healthy ecosystem.

“We are affectionately called the friendly beekeepers with huge hearts,” Gray said with a laugh.

For more than two decades, the two had dreamed of getting into beekeeping, but never had the time or space to live in their old home in Toronto. They’ve spent years in the corporate world watching their coworkers count the days to retirement, and they never wanted to live that way.

Shortly after purchasing a country estate in the hills just south of Creemore, they discovered a wild bee living in the hollow of a white pine just behind their house.

“I heard this hum in the forest. I looked up and there was a huge opening in a white pine, and there were honey bees… I was pretty sure they were honey bees, ”Gray said. “It was the greatest sign of all time.”

The “bee tree,” as Gray calls it, was the catalyst for the couple’s launch of the Heritage Bee Co.

After years of working as “executive slaves” to the corporate world, Gray in sales and marketing in the investment industry, and Chalmers in aerospace, the duo have traded their business suits for business suits. bee – and they’ve never felt more comfortable.

Gray said, “We call this our ‘lifestyle career’, a career we never have to retire from.”

“From the start… We have sought to do something meaningful, that would leave the world a better place and not do any harm to the environment,” said Gray.

But they also wanted to do something a little more innovative.

“So we got curious, we wanted to see if we could bring something new and different to this very traditional industry,” Gray continued.

After extensive research, Heritage Bee Co.’s Hive Hosting program was born.

From weekends in the countryside to gardeners, city dwellers, small organic farmers and just about “anyone who cares about the plight of bees”, hive accommodation makes beekeeping a possibility for everything. the world. Gray and Chalmers take care of all aspects of delivering, installing, maintaining and extracting honey from the hive for customers, all on their own property.

The program is designed to support both bees and provide benefits to clients.

It’s no secret that bees play a vital role in the ecosystem, but they are threatened with extinction due to modern farming practices, lack of habitat and increasing environmental stressors. To combat this, Gray and Chalmers carefully select candidates who have idyllic properties for bees and encourage their clients to plant pollinator gardens and also provide a water source. Their properties should also be free from pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.

In return, customers enjoy the benefits of beekeeping, such as increased pollination of their flowers, fruit trees and vegetable gardens, among others, without all the heavy labor. They also receive 36 jars of hyperlocal honey with a personalized label, as well as an educational experience, if they wish.

“It’s a much more sustainable route for the bees because we don’t put 20 or 30 beehives in one place,” Gray said. “And our customers love it.”

The program sold out within minutes of its launch, and Heritage Bee Co. now houses beehives from north Collingwood to Caledon. There is currently a two-year waiting list for new clients who wish to be accepted into the program.

At the end of the season, Gray and Chalmers harvest the honey – provided the bees have enough to get through the winter – pack it for their customers and sell whatever is left.

To this day, Heritage Bee Co. only produces wildflower honey because it believes it to be “honey as nature intended”. The difference in taste also helped convince them that this was the option they preferred over a ‘monoculture’.

“It would be like saying okay, we’re just going to sit in this apple orchard and all you’re going to eat for 12 months of the year are those apples.” You would get sick, ”Gray said.

Bees are the same, so Gray said they won’t put their bees in environments where they should feed on the same crop.

Over the years, they’ve added over 10 flavors of honey to their collection, but they’re creating them by infusing natural – and organic if possible – ingredients into their classic wildflower honey.

Heritage Bee Co. is also B Corp certified, which means it is “committed to using business as a force for good, putting people and the planet before profit”.

“I have the impression that every day I leave the world a little better. I feel like I’m doing something to help the bees in the most natural way and harvest our honey in a very honorable way, ”said Gray. “And the fact that in our own way, we feel like we’re really changing the mindsets of people and the way they think about the way food is produced or the way they take care of the earth.”

Heritage Bee Co. honey can be purchased from their website to ship direct from their honey farm near Creemore, Ontario, or to some local retailers.

About Sherri Flowers

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