PEACE COUNTRY’S
HONEY MAN
by Nigel E, Hannaford

Ernie Fuhr is master of
his trade, which happéns to
be beekeeping. In a good
year, he'll produce 200,000

unds (90,000 kilograms) of

oney and 15,000 pounds
(6,750 kilograms) of pollen.
At the age of 37, he is a
widely acclaimed expert on,
bees and goes as far afield
as Texas to lecture on the
subject. And that’s a long
way for a honey-maker from
Fort St. John. -

Fuhr considers that it was
probably the best advice he
ever got when a provincial
apiarist suggested to him
that he should head north. It
was 1957 and at that time
nobody else was working
with bees in the Peace. Fuhr
left his native Vernon and
headed north with a trailer
and a handful of hives.

He set up his business,
North Peace’ Apiaries, at

’ Mile 42 of the Alaska High-
way just outside Fort St.
John, where he welcomes
visitors who want to find out
how famous Peace River
honey is made. The trailer
has given way to a new

house now ard a large new
warehouse for the hives
stands alongside a modern
crocessini plant nearby. AS
for the hives, he has hun-
dreds now. Some 66
beeyards are spread around
the farms of the neigh-
houring countryside each
with 20 to 30 hives. (This is
to the mutual benefit of
Fuhr and the host farmer:
crop pollination ‘is ac-
complished twice as quickly
with the help of bees as if it
were left to the wind.)

if Fuhr. was the area’s
origina] beekeeper, he is not
now the only one. Since his
arrival and with his active
support, ' beekeeping has
caught on as a hobby around
Fort St. Jolin, with at least
30 serious amateurs.

For them he provides a
complete service. He
teaches beekeeping at local
night schools. He’ll provide

hives, starter honeycombs, i

an extraction service at
season’s end when the

combs are full and, most 2.”
bees .

important, the
themselves.

These he trucks in from
California every April as
they. will not survive the

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[ROAM AT HOME

JA TRAVEL BRITISH COLUMBIA FEATURE

harsh Peace country win-
ters. Every hive takes 2,000

es.

“The object of beekeeping
this far north is to get as
many bees as possible
pefore the start of the honey
flow in July,” says Fuhr.
“There’s plenty of things to
go wrong too,’

Bad weather can seriously
impede the growth of a hive
but that is the least of the
problems.

i

ences aroun

“If a queen isn’t healthy,
or hasn't been bred, the
hives gets off to a slow start
and doesn’t produce as
much honey asit should, But
our single biggest headache
is bears. We put electrified

thern, but there are plenty of
bears who just aren't
bothered by a zap on the
nose. We lose quite a few
hives to bears every year.”

747 Se

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Fuhr’s other major
product is one that he is
particularly proud of,
pollen. Recently
rediscovered by health food
experts it has been long
neglected by apiarists as it
is hard to collect and
rocess. It is however, one
of the richest natural foods
known to man. The tiny

ains stick to the legs of

s as they enter flowers
and it is collected by pollen
traps as they enter their
hives. It requires drying,
cleaning and sorting prior to
sale, but provides another
valuable sideline to Fuhr’s
enterprise.

The quality of pollen
improves the further north
it is collected. Canadian
pollen is universally
acknowledged to be of the
highest quality. .

Quality is probably the

biggest single ingredient in -

Fuhr’s recipe for success,
whether in producing honey
or pollen, (or the can-
dlesticks he makes from
leftover beeswax). It is just

as well, as his products go .

all over North America and
they bear a proud label —
‘Made in the Great Peace
Country, British Columbia.”
(This Roam at Home
article is one of 4 series
provided by Tourism British
Columbia.) .

PUNCH LINE

QB

ah

OUR ANSHVERING
B SERVICE /S UNDER
REPAIR... THIS
1S A PERSON
SPEAKING,”

o be