Loading...
The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1974-08-29, Page 17TirnevAdY,Ocute, August 9, 1974 Notice Re: Garbage Pickup Due to the holiday, the normal gar- bage pickup of Monday, Sept. 2 has been rescheduled to: Tuesday, Sept. 3 GLENN KRIS Works Superintendent In this job you can really get ,stung. most of the honey to survive. Beekeepers must be careful not to take more than the surplus honey because it may threaten the survival of the colony over the winter. By the last week of July, the bees have gathered most of the nectar and are peaking in honey production. The beekeeper's job is a back- breaking one, according to Dave Kestle. The hives must be checked regularly during production season. In the early spring Dave checks the hives to make sure the queen bee and her workers have sur- vived the winter. The entrance is cleared so that the bees can get in and out easily. The hives are brought out from the winter quarters as soon as the ground is dry. To check the colony, Kestle uses a smoker, to drive the bees back into the hive when it is open and prevent them from swar- ming around him when he is working, While working around the hive, Dave wears a protective hat and veil to prevent the bees from stinging his face. He also wears a long sleeved shirt to stop the bees from getting into his clothing but, no gloves. Even beekeepers are sometimes stung but Dave is used to it and finds that the bees won't sting as much if you don't make any quick movements. At the Kestle's Honey Farm extracting the honey is a family job. Mrs. Kestle and her four daughters assist in the process of removing the honey from the combs and filtering it for packaging. The Kestles also have seven grandchildren, three of whom have been able to help with the extracting in the last two years. Each hive contains three layers of frames; two "supers" in which the honey is produeed and one brood chamber in which the queen bee lays the eggs. Each super contains eight racks of comb, on which honey has been produced and stored, The Kestles have a "bee blower" which blows the bees off the racks and back into the hive so that the surplus honey can be taken to the barn for extraction, New "supers are then placed in the hive and each rack is fitted with a foundation layer of beeswax, rolled out with the pattern of the comb stamped in. From this foundation, the bees begin work again to build up the comb for more honey production, In the extraction room, Janis Kestle, Dave's daughter, cuts the caps off the comb cells to allow the honey to flow out. The comb is then placed in the extractor which revolves and throws the honey onto the sides of a large tub. The honey is then filtered and put into two settling tanks which hold one and a half tons of honey. Hot sultry weather is best for the production of honey, Dave honey from the comb. EXTRACTING THE HONEY — After the caps are cut off the comb cells the racks are placed in a rotating extractor which removes the T-A photo JOB HAZARDS — Dave Kestle uses the smoker, a device which burns binder twine and gives off a thick smoke, to drive the bees back into the hive, so they won't sting him as he checks the progress of the honey production, Each colony produces about 1,000 pounds of honey in a season. T-A photo In David Kestle's business you can really get stung I Kestle's Honey farm, located in Clandeboye, just off Highway 4, has been in operation, by different members of the family, for over 70 years. When Mrs. Kestle's grand- father, Thomas Seed, first came to Clandeboye to live with his daughter, Mrs, Abbott, he brought with him 15 bee hives, William Abbott became in- terested in the bees and bought out an apiary near Forest. During the 50 years he owned the farm, Honey Bill, as he became known, had as many as 1,000 hives, David Kestle worked for Honey Bill from 1938 until he joined the army in 1940, Married to Honey Bill's daughter, Eleanor, Kestle bought the farm in 1953. Kestle's Honey Farm now has over 200 hives located in three bee yards in the Clandeboye area, Each hive can house up to 100,000 bees. Dave and his son, Tom, a postman in London, care for the bees and their hives throughout the year. The beekeeping season is from April to August, when the honey must be produced, gathered, extracted and packaged. The honey produced by the colony is not solely the property of the beekeeper. An average colony will produce almost 1,000 pounds of honey in one season, but the keeper only takes the surplus, in August, which represents about 60 pounds, Dave Kestle said. The bees themselves require Kestle says, "because the wax, which is produced in the glands of the bee is like sweat". Rain also helps because it slows the far- mers taking off the hay crops and allows the bees to get out and collect more nectar. After extraction there are still several hours of work involved for the Kestles; labelling and stamping, filling the containers and cutting the comb honey. "Work with the bees is a rewarding, fascinating and never ending source of information, as each season brings something new", Mrs. Kestle said, The Kestles have found that honey is becoming harder and harder to produce as area far- mers plow up every nook and cranny of the fields and spray with insecticides and weed Killers. These sprays not only kill the source of the bee's nourish- ment, they also kill the bees, the Kestles said. "What farmers don't realize," Mrs. Kestle said, "is that these sprays are detrimental to their own way of life, The service our bees provide, in pollination can not be replaced, If a farmer completely destroys this natural purpose of the bees, there will be no more crops." A recent Ontario government survey revealed that the beekeeping industry in Ontario has a 17 times greater dollar value for its pollinating service than the actual dollar value of the honey. The Kestles are becoming worried about their bees and the sources available to them for producing honey. The Depart- ment of Highways, they say, is one of the worst offenders because they are constantly spraying the roadsides where clover and other honey producing plants grow. The Kestles strive for clover honey but, Mrs. Kestle says, ."You have to take what the bees gather and who can say where they go. Each year the honey has a slightly different flavour and people don't seem to realize that the beekeeper has no control over this." The Kestles sell most of their honey to local markets. They also have a shop attached to their barn and extracting plant, from which they sell much of the honey to individuals. In 1973, Dave Kestle's bees produced 12,000 pounds of honey. "There is no way of predicting how much they'll make this year," Dave said, "That's all up to the bees," GRAND COVE ESTATES HONEY IN THE SHOP — Mrs, Eleanor Kestle cuts the comb honey from the rock to be packaged for sale. Local markets get most of the honey produced on the Kestle Honey Farm in Clandeboye and they sell large quantities from their own shop. Taking care of the bees is Dave's job with the help of his son Tom but Mrs. Kestle and her four daughters help with the extracting and packaging. T-A photo HARD AT WORK — Dave Kestle holds up a rack frame where worker bees are busy making the comb and filling it with honey. The bees fill the center portion first and work towards the outside. It requires about 550 worker bees to gather a pound of honey, T- A phRto Mrs. Barge is a happy home owner at Sandycove acres, another of our successful mobile home park developments. Country Estate Living LOCATED 40 MILES FROM LONDON AT GRAND BEND, ONTARIO Factory Built Year Round Homes HOMES FOR THINK-AHEAD PEOPLE NEAR BEAUTIFUL LAKE HURON IN THE HEART OF ONTARIO'S BLUE WATER VACATIONLAND UTILITY 5 - 10 LB AVERAGE 1 Essex Bacon1J1.38 SCHNEIDER'S BLUE RIBBON Bologna BY-3T1i1E8;IECE LEAN BONELESS Boston Steak 1.58 20 Year Mortgage Financing at 113/4 % Guaranteed Investment Certificates (SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE) A TOTAL ADULT COMMUNITY From $20,395 As low as 5 3,995 down PLUS LAND LEASE Fresh Turkeys LB b8` BURN'S READY-TO-EAT 2 1/2 - 3 LB AVERAGE Dinner Ham LB $1.38 Sausage PO H LB 88` Weiners PAC VAC $ 2 LB PI<G 1,58 ONTARIO NO 1 yields 12.57' Head Lettuce EA 23G Mc Intosh Apples 884 Ontario New Potatoes 1/) L5 B A 88t • Large recreation centre. • Shuffleboard Courts. • Recreational Living. • Recreation hall, hobby rooms. • Swimming pool, • Curling rink close by. • 50 miles to Port Huron, U.S.A. cross- ing point. , Adjoining Oakwood Golf Course. • Easy walk to stores, hotels, beaches. FEATURES: • 2, 8 bedrooms, 1 & 2 bath homes. • Some with wood burning fireplaces, ready to move in. I Central water supply. • Approved sewage system. • Individual post light with convenient outlet. • Garbage collection. • A fully-planned community,, com- pletely land-scaped with paved . streets and sidewalks in some loca- tions and two tar parking per home. $2.49 ESSEX 1 1/2 LB TIN Canned Hams Canada Dryff,";',I12,14 $2.88 5 LB BOX Oxydol Detergent $1.98 MAXWELL HOUSE 10 OZ JAR Instant Coffee $2.45 SQUIRREL 4 1,13 TIN Peanut Butter $1.89 TOILET BOWL 34 OZ Vanish Cleaner 494 26 OZ BOTTLE PLUS DEPOSIT Pepsi IL Flavors 4/994 when cumulated over five years NO 1 VAC PAK ONTARIO NO 1 NEW CROP 3 LB BAG SLICED LB 880 T'ODDLER'S DIAPERS Pampers $1.39 CLUB SODA, TONIC, GINGERALE Dlu' all Ontario 7'ru,vt Company begun in 1889 Member Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation of mom Ti moo * urn soot out „ TICTORM .tod GREY TRUST COMPANY SINCE 1880 Kurt Bowman o Manager Main St„ Exetar n8,0630 THE TENDER SPOT PHONE 238-2512 CRAM, BEND OWNtO AND OPERATED BY RIDGE PINE PARK LIMITED, A GUALI'TY DEVELOPMENT OF RICE CON, sTAUCTION AND THE POYAL SANK, For further information: Grand Bend (I10) 288,8308 P.O. Box 217 NOM ITO Brampton -- 416 4E1.6443