Meet the busy bees working behind the scenes.
TIM HOLMES - PAPA BEE
Those who know Tim love his passion. Along with caring for the bees Tim nurtures seeds into seedlings every spring and grows a massive garden with organic greens, root vegetables and juicy watermelon. As a life long learner Tim scours publications and the web for better sustainable practices. If you have an hour or five - ask him about Terra Preta or the Back to Eden method. As a renaissance man Tim also plays piano, composes pieces and built the chicken coop (a labour of love using recycled materials that took too many hours to count). 9 to 5ish Tim is a self employed software developer that builds custom, niche applications for small businesses.
SHELLEY MCQUADE - QUEEN BEE
Shelley is Tim's other half. With a love of the outdoors and nature Shelley tends to the flower gardens ensuring there is a constant supply of nectar and pollen for the bees to enjoy. An avid hiker and forager she takes every opportunity to uncover nutrition packed delectables like wild leeks, greens and mushrooms. Shelley also has a huge batch of kombucha brewing fortified with berries grown on their property. Passionate about wellbeing, Shelley turns many of the bees bi-products into healthy consumables. 9 to 5ish Shelley is a business coach that helps organization take their business to the next level.
Self professed foodies (and wine/cider drinkers) on evenings and weekends you'll find this dynamic duo dreaming up and making fabulous foods in the pizza oven, smoker, grill or oven and then kicking back with family and friends enjoying the fruits of their labour. We hope you will join us!
Sustainability
It all started in 2018 with this first founding principle!
As an avid gardener Tim took it to heart when he heard that the humble honeybee was in trouble. Colony collapse (entire hives fail to make it through the winter) was becoming (and still is) a big concern worldwide. Not one to sit around and lament Tim decided to take matters into his own hands.
With a bit of research he found out a wonderful bee breeder lived down the road literally. In frosty February Tim order a nuc (a group of bees including the Queen) for delivery in the Spring. Tim put it out of his mind until Shelley gave him a gentle (or not so gentle reminder). Within days Tim learned his nucleus of bees would be ready! Tim sprang into action, ordered a hive and started his life as bee keeper.
Our bees are not treated as simple livestock, they are part of our amazing extended family that includes our sponsors (along with our chickens and cat)! We have a 'bees first' mentality. We only harvest half of the available honey, never force feed them corn syrup or sugar to boost production (yes this is done often!) and only use proven, organic methods for mites, diseases and breeding our bees. We also do not ship our bees out for 'pollination duty'.
The result are healthier, stronger (and we like to think happier) honeybee colonies when caring for them this way.
Innovation
There's always a better way.
The art of Beekeeping hasn't really changed much in the last 100 years, however, the rest of the planet sure has. We realized that some of the current beekeeping methods were almost doing more harm than good and were becoming very stressful on bees. In addition, climate change, loss of habitat and pesticide use are all taking their toll on colonies around the world. So doing things the same way won't help our bees here and now, so we are adapting.
For example we use the new insulated Apimaye hives and our bees just love them! They stay warm and cozy in the winter and cooler in the summer due to their insulation that mimics a real tree (where bees normally would reside). Wooden hives made with pine can get damp, cold and make it harder for our little black and yellow friends to brave the elements.
We are also levering technology in many other ways such as using a revolutionary real time mite tracking app and a cloud based hive tracking system.
Finally, the support we get from our sponsors also allows us to run field tests on other aspects of sustainable beekeeping such as trialing essential oils and other natural regimens to keep pests at bay and keep our honeybees in tip top shape. In the end we also hope to share this know-how with other beekeepers so honeybees everywhere can benefit.
Education
Wow, kids (and most people) LOVE bees!
As we built the onemillionhoneybee project, we realized there is a hunger for knowing more about these simply amazing creatures, and one of our favourite audiences to share this knowledge with are kids!
At one of our first education sessions (thanks sponsors for the support that allows us to do this!) the teacher actually had to stop students midway through our presentation to STOP asking questions and save them for later. As the lunch bell sounded, instead of running out of the presentation, they kept asking questions - we were so thrilled! It was this first presentation that made us realize that we need to implement education as a driving principle as part of our project.
Now that the worst of COVID is behind us, we are able to get back into schools and group presentations to help people understand how vitally important bees, and all pollinators for that matter, are to our planet and ourselves. We strongly believe that educating, both young and old, is a major way we can help our honeybee populations.
Community
Together we are stronger
The heart and soul of our project are our sponsors! Without your support we couldn't do all of the amazing things we do. Your quarterly sponsorship enables us to continue our work of Educating, Innovating and promoting Sustainable practices that leads to healthier pollinators to preserve our planet.
However, it doesn't end there. Through various events, workshops, seminars, tours, etc., as part of our sponsorship community you have an active voice in shaping and growing One Million Bees.
We are building a like minded community and have discovered many of our sponsors have unique talents they love to share. Thus far our sponsors have turned the bees "products" into artisan chocolates, healing balm and lotion bars. Not to mention new friendships and connections have been formed. Like bees in a hive our community of sponsors know together is better.