Feature Vid - “YVR to BEE”

On Tuesday, Sept 13th, I was invited to tag along with John “The Bee Keeper”, as he began the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel’s annual honey harvest.

John’s blood consists of 95% honey. His father was a Albertan farmer who kept a few hobby hives. It was there that John mastered his trade. By the age of 10 John was strutting around the farm sporting his patented beehive beard, and by the age of 18 he graduated to the beehive speedo.

John brought his passion to BC’s West Coast where he runs his own business, The HoneyBee Centre. He now takes his beard and speedo to exhibitions and fairs across the Lower-Mainland. His company also produces amazing honey.

The Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel (FVA) has been working with John for a number of years. They started with a few hives but are now expecting a 5000 lb. yield of honey for 2011.

The hotel hives are located on Sea Island, a quick walk from the Airport Hotel. You can capture a taste of their signature honey by dining at their hotel restaurant or by purchasing a jar from the front desk.

Thank you John and FVA for the great hive tour! It brought me back to my childhood, when I was stung almost everyday after pestering my neighbors bees.