The Rural Voice, 2005-10, Page 37Murray Fear stands in front of barrels of honey. some of the 35 tonnes of an average yearly crop.
KEEPING THE HONEY FLOWING
Beekeeping is an ancient form of farmin,g but today only a handful
of Ontario farmers make their living from it
Story and photos by Keith Rouston
This summer's hot humid
weather has made for a happy
harvest at J. R. Fear Apiaries
at Wingham. The weather provided
plenty of flowers with plenty of
nectar for the tiny workers that keep
the honey flowing for Murray Fear,
who runs the long-time family
business.
Last year was a different story.
The wet cool weather was disastrous
for the honey crop. Fear recalls how
his bees, taken to a local orchard to
help with pollination, wouldn't travel
more than 150 yards from the hives
in the cool weather that spring.
This year's weather, however, was
the kind that makes alfalfa, the main
crop for Fear's bees, yield best. The
high humidity keeps the flowers from
drying out, he says. In dry weather
the flowers dry out by early
afternoon and the bees stop calling.
The result k a bumper crop from
32 THE RURAL VOICE
the 700 hives he puts out at locations
within a 30 -mile radius of his honey
house on the edge of Wingham.
Though alfalfa is the main source of
the nectar the bees turn into honey,
they also feed on wildflowers,
basswood blossoms and clover in
pastures.
Murray Fear is the second
generation to make honey a full-time
occupation. His father J. Russell Fear
got his first hives when he was 15
years of age. By 1973 he was making
his living from honey.
Commercial beekeeping is not
common in Ontario. Fear says only
he and Bill Ferguson of Ferguson's
Apiaries in Hensall, make their living
from honey in Huron County. In a
reversal of the common trend in
agriculture which sees more animals
kept by fewer farmers, in beekeeping
The on-farm store includes a
collection of historic honey pails.
r.