A local hobby beekeeper from Steinbach is working to expand his hives this summer.

Tom Guenther from Sweet Strings Honey had nine bee hives last summer. “We started with 2 hives two years ago, and it's tempting to expand faster but that brings a lot more work, and my boys are pulling in the reins to go slow.”

Guenther says they got their start in beekeeping, because as a family they ate a lot of honey, and thought beekeeping would be a great family hobby and small business. “The boys, our friend Robert and I do the weekly field work. My wife Sharon gets involved at harvest time.”

“I did some research and discovered a class at the U of M called Bee Keeping for the Hobbyist. My sons Joseph and Ethan and I took the class the winter of 2013. They cover the bee life cycle, bee anatomy and behaviour, how to manage bee colonies, equipment and site selection, the different types of plants that the bee can use, when the nectar flows, parasites and diseases, bee and honey regulations, and most important -how to extract the delicious honey.”

Guenther says the bees are kept at a friend's farm. “We have friends near Dugald who have a beautiful farm with beautiful wildflowers and clover flowers. The type of flower that supplies the nectar determines the flavor of the honey.”

Guenther says there are several ways to start a new beehive. “We chose to order a package of bees from the Bee Maid Co-op store. These bees are brought in by airplane from New Zealand in spring and each tube of bees contains approximately 10,000 bees and 1 queen.”

Over the summer, Guenther says one hive can grow to a population of 20-80,000 bees. “If we are able to grow to 12 hives, we could possibly have a million bees this year.”

According to Guenther, bees start collecting nectar during the day as soon as the flowers start to appear. He says honey collecting or harvesting for the farmer usually starts in early to mid August and ends in September. “At the end of the season in Manitoba, the average amount of honey per hive is 77kg or 169lbs. We have not reached this amount yet. Manitoba has one of the most productive honey environments in the world. We have 800 beekeepers with 92,000 hives.”

Guenther adds, “We found that beekeeping is a wonderful hobby with many challenges and learning opportunities. Many beekeepers choose to join an association, I belong to the ‘Red River Apiarists Association’ which meets monthly during the winter for education, special speakers, and the more experienced beekeepers mentor new beekeepers like me.”