Huron Student Honey
Anyone can BEEcome a beekeeper!
2020-2022
What Is Huron Student Honey?
Huron Student Honey began in 2020 to involve and invest in the youth of our community. Under the guidance of mentors, students learned how to care for honeybees, work with hives, harvest honey, and prepare it for sale in local stores. In the second and third years of the program, the volunteer call expanded to include anyone interested, from young children to older adults. All ages were welcome and no experience was necessary, since everyone is a student when it comes to learning about bees! The project concluded in 2022: this page is now an archive.
Huron Student Honey in the News
Our Project is Award-Winning!
Economic Developers Council of Ontario: 2021 Awards of Excellence
Lieutenant-Governors’ Award: BEST IN SHOW
Rural Excellence Award
Curious about a day in the life with Huron Student Honey? Check out the video to see the harvesting and extraction process during our August harvest in 2021!
Ready to Join?
Here is some information that will help you understand the bee program and make sure it’s a good fit for you:
Some lifting is required as we lift boxes of honey down from the hives in late summer and early fall. They can weigh up to 70 lbs when full of honey. We encourage ‘team lifting’. If you can’t lift, there will be other jobs for you!
The hives are currently located in a valley and requires walking down a hill at the side of the road to access them. The terrain is a bit uneven so caution is advised and solid waterproof footwear is required.
Bee stings are possible, so if you have allergies please be cautious and prepared with the appropriate medications to keep yourself safe.
If you have any bee-keeping equipment (suit/veil/gloves etc.) feel free to bring them along. We have some available for your use. Supplies are limited though, so please be sure to let us know what days you are coming.
Training
We require all participants to watch two short training videos and a volunteer training video. The bee training videos are prepared by the University of Guelph Honeybee Research Centre. Most of the videos are between 5-8 minutes and are very informative. We request that you watch the first two series that are titled: Getting Started With Bees, and Working With Bees. There are several more advanced videos in the collection, feel free to watch as many as you like! The volunteer training is a requirement of the Province of Ontario. The whole process will take you approximately an hour. You will be asked to upload your completed certificate once finished.
https://forms.centralhuron.ca/Honey-Bee-Program
We’d love you to BEE part of the group! Contact Angela Smith at cic@centralhuron.com to learn more and join the program