Country Fields Beekeeping Supplies

11/10/2025

In remembrance of all who have served and all who have fallen defending our freedom and democracy.

11/10/2025

The Country Fields Retail Store will be closed on Remembrance Day, Tuesday, November 11th. We will re-open Wednesday, November 12th at 9:30am.

Lest we forget.

11/04/2025

🍯 Hive Treasures: Creative Uses for Beeswax and Propolis
Honey is fantastic, but the hive offers so much more! Beeswax and propolis are incredibly versatile byproducts perfect for DIY and natural care.

✨ Beeswax Wonders
Beeswax is a natural sealant, ideal for non-toxic household items.

Wood Polish: Melt beeswax with a light carrier oil (like olive or mineral oil). Once slightly cooled, use this mixture to condition and protect wood surfaces like cutting boards or furniture.

Zero-Waste Food Wraps: Coat cotton fabric with a mix of melted beeswax, jojoba oil, and pine rosin. These wraps are reusable and moldable for covering food.

Natural Candles: Beeswax candles burn cleaner and longer than paraffin, giving off a subtle, natural aroma.

🌿 The Power of Propolis
Propolis, or "bee glue," is naturally antibacterial, making it a powerhouse for health and home.

Sore Throat Tincture: Propolis tinctures (made by dissolving propolis in alcohol) are popular natural remedies used as a potent gargle or spray for soothing irritation. (Always research dilution and consult a professional.)

Soothing Lip Balm: Mix a small amount of refined propolis powder or tincture into your favorite homemade lip balm base to help soothe chapped lips.

Natural Sealant: Raw propolis softens with a little heat, making it useful as a natural putty to seal tiny cracks in wood before finishing.

The takeaway? Utilize every part of the hive! Using beeswax and propolis reduces waste and brings the natural benefits of the colony into your life.

What hive byproduct are you most excited to try using next? 🙂🐝🙂🐝

10/29/2025

Well, Ok then...

The hive rulers produce a pheromone that helps keep workers loyal. What happens when it's gone?

10/22/2025

Now this is pretty interesting... Honeybees... no Daddy Required

In the bustling, highly organized world of a honeybee hive, the queen bee reigns supreme, not just as a leader, but as a biological marvel. One of the most fascinating aspects of her existence is her unique reproductive ability: a honeybee queen can lay eggs that develop into offspring without any genetic contribution from a father. This remarkable feat is possible thanks to a biological process called parthenogenesis, specifically a type known as arrhenotoky.

To understand this, we need to look at the basics of honeybee genetics. Bees, like all insects in the order Hymenoptera (which includes ants and wasps), have a special sex-determination system called haplodiploidy.

Here’s how it works:

Fertilized Eggs = Females: When a queen bee lays an egg that she has fertilized with s***m stored from her mating flights, that egg will have a full set of chromosomes (diploid). These fertilized eggs develop into female bees – either worker bees (sterile females) or new queen bees (fertile females), depending on the diet they receive as larvae.

Unfertilized Eggs = Males: Here's where the "no father needed" part comes in. The queen bee has the incredible ability to choose whether or not to fertilize an egg. If she lays an egg without fertilizing it, that egg will contain only half the usual number of chromosomes (haploid). These unfertilized, haploid eggs develop exclusively into male bees, known as drones.

In essence, a drone bee has a mother but no father, as it develops directly from the queen's unfertilized genetic material. This means all of a drone's genes come directly from its mother, the queen.

This unique reproductive strategy has several evolutionary advantages for honeybees, contributing to their complex social structure and the overall health of the colony. It allows the queen to produce male offspring even if she runs out of stored s***m (though this typically signals a failing queen) or to regulate the proportion of male and female bees in the hive as needed.

So, while the queen does mate with multiple drones early in her life to store s***m for producing her female workforce, when it comes to her sons, the drone bees, she truly is their sole parent, proving that in the fascinating world of honeybees, a father is sometimes optional!

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10/15/2025

Bees in the City: The World of Urban Beekeeping in Canada
Did you know that beekeeping is a growing trend in Canadian cities? What was once a predominantly rural practice has found a new home on urban rooftops, in community gardens, and even in backyards. So, what's up??

Urban beekeeping offers a unique connection to nature and a chance to contribute to local food systems. City bees often thrive on a diverse diet from parks, gardens, and flowering trees, which can result in delicious, uniquely flavored honey. Beyond the sweet reward, beekeeping is an educational and engaging hobby that fosters community and promotes environmental awareness.

However, it's not without its challenges. The primary concerns often revolve around regulations and the potential impact on native pollinators.

Regulations: Beekeeping in Canada is governed by provincial and municipal regulations. In provinces like Ontario, beekeepers must follow rules that may include hive setback requirements from property lines, which can be a significant barrier in dense urban areas. Many municipalities, like Vancouver, Edmonton, and Chilliwack, have their own bylaws to ensure beekeeping is safe for everyone.

Native Pollinators: A major point of debate is the competition between domesticated honeybees and native bees. Honeybees, with their large colonies, can outcompete wild species for limited pollen and nectar, potentially harming native pollinator populations. For this reason, many experts suggest that the best way to help native bees is by planting pollinator-friendly gardens with native flora, not necessarily by keeping honeybees.

If you're interested in urban beekeeping, it's essential to do your research. Before getting started, you should:

Check Local Regulations: Always understand and follow provincial and municipal bylaws, which may require you to register your hives.

Get Educated: Take a beekeeping course and consider joining a local beekeeping association. Organizations like the Canadian Honey Council and various provincial and local beekeeping associations are excellent resources for new and experienced beekeepers alike.

Support All Pollinators: Whether you keep bees or not, you can help by creating a diverse, pollinator-friendly garden. This provides food and habitat for a wide range of species, ensuring a healthier ecosystem for everyone.

Urban beekeeping is a rewarding hobby that brings a taste of the countryside to the city. By being mindful of the challenges and following best practices, urban beekeepers can contribute to a more sustainable and biodiverse environment.

10/09/2025

We are changing Saturday's to our Fall/Winter Hours:

Monday - Friday: 9:30am - 4:30pm
Saturday: 10:00am - 2:00pm

10/07/2025

Hello honeybee lovers! Are any of you also hockey lovers? We've got two pairs of tickets to give away to Thursday's Mooseheads game against the Rimouski Oceanic. Just comment and tell is why you'd love to win the tickets. We'll draw for the winners on Wednesday evening at 7pm and will be notified via Instant Messenger. Good luck!

10/02/2025

To help honey bees prepare for colder fall weather, people can ensure they have enough food, protect their hives from the elements, and plant late-blooming flowers.

Please share this to teach others how they can help! 🐝🥰🐝🥰

Food and Nutrition
Honey bees need a large amount of honey (around 60-80 pounds) to survive winter. Beekeepers should check honey stores and, if necessary, provide a thick sugar syrup solution. Supplemental feeding should be done while the bees are still active. It's also important to ensure the bees have enough pollen for protein, which can be supplemented with pollen patties.

Preparing the Hive
To help bees conserve heat, beekeepers should reduce the size of the hive by removing empty boxes. Reducing the hive's entrance with a mouse guard can prevent pests from entering while also helping the bees regulate temperature. Proper ventilation is also crucial to prevent moisture buildup, which can harm the colony. Hives should be insulated with materials like tar paper and placed in a location shielded from strong winds.

General Care
Before winter, beekeepers should check the hive for a healthy, strong queen and a large bee population, as a bigger cluster is better at retaining heat. It is also important to treat the hive for pests, especially Varroa mites, which can weaken the colony. For those who don't have hives, planting late-blooming flowers like goldenrod and asters provides a vital food source for bees as they prepare for winter.

09/24/2025

The Honey Bee's Super-Powered Eyes: A Look into a Different World 🐝
Ever wondered how a tiny honey bee navigates the world with such precision? A big part of the answer lies in its incredible, complex eyes!

Five Eyes are Better Than Two?

Honey bees don't just have two eyes like us—they have five! On the sides of their head are two large, compound eyes. These are made up of thousands of tiny, individual lenses called ommatidia. Each ommatidium points in a slightly different direction, creating a massive, mosaic-like image of the world. This gives the bee an incredibly wide field of vision, helping it to detect movement and predators from all angles.

But that's not all! On top of the bee's head, between the two large eyes, are three simple eyes called ocelli. These aren't for seeing detailed images, but rather for detecting light intensity. The ocelli act like a light meter, helping the bee orient itself with the sun and navigate even on cloudy days.

Seeing the Unseen

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about a honey bee's vision is what it can see that we can't: ultraviolet (UV) light. While our world is limited to the colors of the rainbow, bees see a world of vibrant UV patterns on flowers. Many flowers have special "nectar guides"—patterns that are only visible in UV light—that act like a landing strip, guiding the bee to the pollen and nectar.

So, the next time you see a honey bee buzzing around your garden, remember that it's not just seeing a beautiful flower—it's seeing a detailed, glowing map that we can't even imagine! It's a fantastic reminder of the hidden wonders of the natural world.

09/15/2025

Hello all you beekeepers and bee lovers! How was your summer? How did your bees make out? Got any interesting stories for us? And where are you located? Please share, we'd love to hear about it! 🙂🐝🙂🐝

09/09/2025

Autumn Foraging: What Honeybees Are Doing When There Are No Flowers.

As summer fades, the familiar buzz of honeybees quiets down as most flowers disappear. So, what are they doing? Autumn is a critical time for honeybees, and they adapt their foraging strategies to prepare for winter.

Finding the Last Food Sources
Honeybees are incredibly resourceful, seeking out the final drops of nectar and pollen. Goldenrod and asters are late-season heroes, providing a crucial food source for bees to build up their winter honey stores. For a beekeeper, a strong flow from these plants can be the difference between a hive having enough to survive or needing supplemental feeding.

Beyond Nectar: Alternative Strategies
When flowers are truly gone, bees turn to other sources:
Honeydew: Bees can collect this sugary excretion from aphids, using it as a carbohydrate source when nectar is unavailable.

Propolis: To seal their hives for winter, bees gather this sticky, resinous substance from tree buds. This "bee glue" creates a draft-free home and acts as a barrier against disease.

Water: Bees continue to collect water to dilute honey for consumption and regulate the hive's temperature.

The Drive to Survive
Every foraging trip in autumn is about one thing: winter survival. The collected nectar becomes the honey that sustains them, and pollen helps raise the final generation of "winter bees", a special group of longer-lived bees that will carry the colony through to spring.

So, when you see fewer flowers, remember the honeybees aren't on vacation. They are diligently working, adapting, and using every last resource to ensure their colony survives the winter and thrives again in the spring. Their autumn work is a testament to their resilience and their incredible drive to survive.