Pioneer gets the most out of its worker bees

September 23, 2015 · 0 Comments

By Mark Pavilons
The tireless honeybee is one of nature’s most impressive creatures.
Bees bring us liquid gold and man has fostered a unique relationship with these tiny workers.
It’s a relationship that must weather any storm, or anything nature throws at you.
Just ask André Flys of King’s Pioneer Brand Honey. The multi-generational operation north of Nobleton has been bringing nature’s bounty to the public for decades.
At this time of year, his “young ladies” are busy working the goldenrod and preparing for the coming winter. The honey made from nectar and pollen is likely the most beneficial substance on the planet and yet we hardly give it a thought.
Honey contains antioxidants, is a digestive and aid and detoxifier. It’s a great alternative to sugar and has been shown to reduce bad cholesterol.
Pollen is another miracle substance, with as much as 40% protein. It contains almost every vitamin and mineral and is ideal for any nutritional diet.
Pioneer’s mandate is to provide natural, locally produced farm products to the community and encourage environmentally sustainable food sources.
André keeps a close eye on the home bee yard, home to 32 colonies, or 1.5 million bees. He also has 16 locations throughout King and New Tecumseth.
At this time of year, the bees work non-stop for more than six hours a day, foraging and filling up on nectar and pollen. A colony can easily gather 40 to 50 pounds per day.
Watching these creatures at work, you can really see what is meant by “as busy as a bee.”
“Their life is mine, too,” Flys observed.
He loves keeping an eye on his colonies and enjoying what nature has provided for us humans. The downside to the operation is that it’s farming, which is often at the mercy of weather and other forces.
Flys joined his fellow beekeepers in suffering major losses in the past few years, some upwards of 70% of their colonies. The cold winters, impacts of pesticides and elimination of certain crops are all to blame.
Flys has had to spend a great deal of time, money and resources rebuilding his colonies and waiting for production to ramp up again. In some cases, his business really does run on a wing and a prayer.
After lobbying and pressure, Ontario’s provincial government banned the use of certain pesticides, including neonicotinoids, which have been proven harmful to honeybees.
Flys understands the use of pesticides, but not as a blanket protection. Of the millions of acres of corn planted in Ontario, the bulk use seeds coated in neonicotinoids and fungicides, which can be a toxic blend.
Flys pointed out that studies have shown that less than a third of our food crops even need protection in the form of pesticides.
Flys belongs to the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association, which is active in the ongoing fight against neonicotinoids. The OBA notes that Ontario beekeepers contribute some $897 million to the province’s agricultural sector, despite suffering losses and experiencing a honey trade deficit of nearly $15 million annually due to the lack of safe bee pasture, and the inability of pesticide-weakened colonies to meet current demand.
For Flys to make a living, he needs roughly 400 colonies, but has to keep 700 as a buffer.
One of the challenges is sustainable bee pasture – the floral resources that bees enjoy. As well, corn and other cash crops use pesticide-coated seeds which break down our fragile ecosystems. They can produce fatal and sub-lethal effects, the later of which are not studied.
Studies on the effects of such things on bumblebees have shown they are losing their olfactory senses and even suffer memory loss as well as compromised immune systems.
The habitat ranges of our natural and kept pollinators are shrinking, as climate change is altering migration patterns.
Other food producers are using managed bee colonies to pollinate the crops. Blueberry producers are in this group and Flys noted this results in a huge loss of local bees being exported.
The bottom line is we have to manage our resources to ensure our sustainability.
Despite these challenges, Flys hopes to ensure Pioneer lasts another couple of generations.
Pioneer Brand is three generations strong and was started by noted naturalist Charles Sauriol C.M. in the 1920s. Keeping bees was one of Charles’s most precious hobbies and he often handed out his jars of liquid “Don Valley gold” to smooth the path for conservation initiatives. The award-winning conservationist is known for his work preserving the Don Valley.
André revived Pioneer Brand in the late 1990s.
The healing effects of bee-related products is known as apitherapy.
Apitherapy is as old as beekeeping itself. It was written about by Hippocrates, and there are many mentions of it in 2,000-year-old Chinese texts. Apitherapy began as part of folk medicine and continues to be used today to treat a range of conditions and diseases as well as to promote overall health and well-being. In some southern European countries, apitherapy is a medically recognized treatment. Apitherapy includes the use of honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, and bee venom.
For Flys, tasting new honey is always a treat – it never gets old.
There are literally thousands of flavour combinations as honey is impacted by the type of flowers the bees feed on. Imagine the flavour and aroma of honey made from eucalyptus, orange blossom or lavender. Pioneer offers many different brands which Flys imports to meet his customers’ needs.
Honey is superior to sugar in baking and contains more vitamins and minerals. It raises a person’s blood sugar more slowly and will keep baked goods moister longer.
Pioneer also offers a wide selection of beeswax products and candles, which burn cleaner, brighter and longer than candles made from other substances.
Nature gave us the honeybees.
And people like André Flys are the true stewards.
For more, visit www.pioneer.ca.