THE PEOPLE BEHIND MARG'S HONEY INC.

The owners of Marg's Honey Inc. are Robert and Margaret Smith.

Robert began beekeeping in 1977, when he bought 4 hives from a lady who worked with him in the Department of Agriculture office in Ashern, Manitoba. Marg used to help him with the work from time to time, but only became more involved closer to when they moved into Winnipeg in 1988.

When the Smiths moved into Winnipeg, in 1988, Rob had been keeping bees for a long time. Marg was taking a leave of absence from teaching to return to university to complete her B. Ed. As she didn't have an income, they decided to use the proceeds from any honey sales as her source of income. In 2006, She registered the business as "Marg's Honey". In 2011, they decided to incorporate, and thus "Marg's Honey Inc." came into being.

Beekeeping has changed a lot since 1977. Back then, they used to buy packages of bees in the spring from the U.S.A. They shook them into their hives, allowed them to do their work all summer, took the honey boxes off the hives, then killed the bees off in the fall. They would extract the honey, store their boxes for the winter and start all over again the next year.

There were not nearly the number of diseases and pests and viruses to deal with that we have now. When the border closed around 1987, they were no longer able to bring packaged bees into Canada. Over the years, they began to experiment with overwintering the bees, by feeding them sugar syrup in the fall and wrapping them up for the winter. Some years were more successful than others, but gradually they built up the numbers of hives. When they moved into Winnipeg, they had around 50 hives.

When Robert and Margaret got closer to retirement, they wanted to find something that they could do together. And since they both enjoyed beekeeping, that's what they decided to do. Until 2017, they increased the number of hives they manage every year until they were caring for over 600 hives. Now the manage 150 hives and mentor a number of new beekeepers in order to pass on the knowledge and experience they have gained in the last 40 years.

They are also a part of a research project for the University of Manitoba, along with 24 other beekeepers, and they are exploring the extent of viruses in Manitoba, which could prove interesting. Their operation was approved as a Producer/Grader Establishment in 2013 and has now been approved as a Honey Packing Establishment by the CFIA since 2017.

When not tending to the bees, Robert attends Bee Conferences and helps his growing family with various renovation projects. He sings in a Barbershop Quartet called Harlequin _bsq. He's done that for over 20 years and has won numerous awards and accolades in his singing career. He also sing in a number of other choirs.

Since taking her retirement from teaching seriously in 2003, Marg has kept her involvement with children by becoming a part of Agriculture in the Classroom (the Amazing Ag Adventure, Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month, and the Made in Manitoba Breakfast),and doing bee presentations. She also presents the occasional workshop for teachers on bees. She is involved in various capacities with the Red River Apiarists Association, the Manitoba Beekeepers Association, the Manitoba Cooperative Honey Producers, and Beemaid Honey.

Robert and Margaret are deeply involved in their family, community and church and take part in church choir, among other things. They've gone on trips and connected with Beekeepers in the Netherlands and Cuba recently and, when vacationing in Cuba, they make sure to take trips around the island to give away bicycles and clothing.