Our Story

Our Beekeeping

We believe that if we look after the bees they will look after us.  For us, as beekeepers, it is important to create a respectful relationship between ourselves, the bees and the environment. This belief guides our daily work.

The bees that we work with have been kept in the Nicola Valley for over 40 years. They tend to do very well in the territory because they have been bred for the local environment: cold, dry winters and hot, dry summers. Our vision is to continue breeding strong bees that will thrive in our area.

Beekeeping is not all about dreamy Zen moments, although there are many! There is a lot of heavy lifting involved when running a honey farm. If every hive has six boxes on it full of honey and you have three hundred hives you have to lift just about 1800 boxes. Each box can weigh in at around 80 pounds of honey… all in one summer! And that is only to get them on the truck. It can be back breaking work but it is worth it.

Our Family

Gavin Walter is a master beekeeper who has spent a large chunk of his life being seduced by the bees. He began beekeeping in the Nicola Valley in High School, in 2007. He applied for a summer job, listed in the local paper, at Nicola Valley Apiaries. Beekeeping kept him busy through the summer months during University and even brought him to New Zealand where he worked on a large scale apiary of ~3,000 beehives. Throughout the years he has gained an understanding of bee health and best management practices. Beekeeping is Gavins full-time job and at this point lives and breathes bees and sweats honey.

Sarah Desrosiers moved to BC’s interior eight years ago. She traded her life as an ethno-ecologist and educator in the Canadian Arctic to breathe in the sweet smell of and consume copious amounts of fresh honey. Sarah helps out with the bees and honey as best as she can and is always learning about their magical powers. She runs the market tent and sales and makes value added products like soaps, candles and propolis salve.

Thomas and Ruth are their two children who tend to spend a lot time playing in the beeyard.

The Apiary

Located 270 km northeast of Vancouver at the foot of the Cascade mountains, our apiary is nestled in the Nicola Valley. This is a wild and diverse region, with rolling rangelands of minimal intensive agriculture. The breathtaking natural beauty of the Nicola Valley and the care that has been put into the land, makes it an ideal home for our apiary.

Quality Floral Sources

Our high quality unpasteurized honey is some of Canada’s finest due to the unique combination of climate and floral sources that British Columbia’s Nicola Valley has to offer. The fantastic floral heritage of the region is made up of dandelion and Saskatoon berry in springtime; alfalfa, clover, vetch and wild rose in summertime; wild buckwheat, knapweed and aster in late summer.

We acknowledge that our apiary and our work takes place on unceded Nlaka’pamux and Syilx Territories.