Move over farm-to-table, here comes hive-to-handlebars. Words :: Corrie DiManno.
Revelstoke, BC, is abuzz over a sweet and slow movement: carbon-free honey. Producing 600 kilograms of honey from 50 hives each summer, Little Feat Apiaries operates its bee yard and farmers market stall all off the back of an electric cargo bike. Swarmed for orders, they typically sell out in time for Christmas.
“We have a tiny apartment and half of it was full of honey,” says Steph Kosakowski of last summer’s homegrown haul, which flew off the shelves after they attended a couple markets and advertised less than a handful of times on social media.
Together, Steph and her partner Neil Keeble own and run the bees-ness, with hives stationed on either side of the Columbia River (or about a 30-minute bike ride from town). Three years ago, Neil built it up from scratch and now breeds queen bees and produces nucleus hives to sell to other beekeepers as a start-up kit. Steph manages the markets and often ends up making sales while en route.
Admittedly, they dip into their own floral, light-amber supply for their favourite combinations. Hers: on toast with peanut butter. His: into every single cup of tea. But both agree, straight out of the jar works, too.
“The honey tastes like whatever the bees have been collecting. And if I’m careful when I’m extracting, I can ask customers which side of the river they want, north or south,” says Neil, adding the flavour is reflective of the nearby budding produce at Terra Firma Farms and local flora like fireweed and clover.
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Romance quickly blossomed after Steph and Neil met through mutual friends in 2015, while living abroad and rock climbing in New Zealand. At the same time, Neil also discovered and fell in love with beekeeping and brought his experience and knowledge with him when the pair moved to Canada in 2019.
“A lot of people who were fascinated by bugs as a kid get into beekeeping, but I was more drawn to it because it allowed me to work outside,” Neil explains. “It’s a full-sensory experience and it’s more than what any sport, activity or job can give me.”
“It’s a full-sensory experience and it’s more than what any sport, activity or job can give me.”
They wanted to keep those good times in the great outdoors rolling. So with a little Googling, some elbow grease and a lot of gratitude to a local shop called Skookum Bike & Ski, they purchased their trusty Surly Skid Loader and trailer to haul equipment, bees and honey pots. (Neil describes it as a pickup truck in bike form.)
“If you sit in the car to go to work and then get out of the car to work, you miss out. By cycling, you’re reminded of why you live in this town,” Neil says. “Cycling alongside the river beneath the beautiful Revelstoke mountains makes me feel like the luckiest beekeeper in BC.”
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