Legend has it that a honey bee must travel the equivalent of twice around the world
to make one teaspoon of honey.
Now imagine how many bees it must take to produce 120,000 pounds of honey. If the weather co-operates, that's how much honey Annie and John Van Alten's 1,200 hives and some 80 million bees will produce this year.
John and Annie have been keeping bees for 27 years and business has grown along with their family of five children who have helped in many aspects of raising and tending bees as well as selling honey. As the business grew, staff was hired to help produce and package the sweet rewards of this beekeeping family. Dutchman's Gold’s success is largely attributed to the dedicated employees who have come on board over the years.
Beekeeping may be a warm weather pursuit, but a beekeeper's job is never done. The beekeeping season starts in winter, with the bees clustering safely inside their well stocked hives. Plans for the coming season are made, equipment is tended to, and new hive bodies are built and painted. Once the temperature starts to rise in April, both the bees and their keepers start to work in earnest. The month of May sees many orchards requiring the pollination services we provide. Young queens are raised to replace older queens in order to keep the hive dynamics at their peak. June, July and August are crucial flowering months for our honey crop. August and September our extractors work non stop to harvest the bounty that nature and hard work provide. October and November are busy tending to the bees, to ensure that they are well fed and healthy before the long winter ahead.
All the while, throughout the year honey is also packaged and distributed for sale, as well as other products of the hive.
"Our aim has always been to make beekeeping our lifestyle,
rather than just a business" says Annie.
And that is just what they have done!
