The yard next to the Dugas family’s home is bustling with activity.
Amanda and Lonnie Dugas and their children Gregory, 17, and Sarah, 14, have about half a dozen beehives on their property in Brentwood, NS.
Amanda Dugas, an assistant to Mi’kmaw students at a local high school, has never been seen as a beekeeper. When the opportunity arose to take a summer beekeeping course with his daughter a few years ago, they took advantage. Soon the whole family was putting on their bee costumes to take care of the hives.
“It simply took us through the pandemic as a family. That gave us something to do because we couldn’t go anywhere, “said Amanda Dugas.
Lonnie and Amanda Dugas have more than half a dozen bee colonies at their home in Brentwood. (Steve Lawrence / CBC News)
In the fall, they sell honey from their apiary, but in the summer, Gregory and Sarah spend their extra time making household calls to safely remove beehives from people’s homes.
Most of them are wild land bees, which they move to farms that want insects.
Amanda Dugas says some people still see bees as pests and even try to destroy the bees themselves with pesticides.
But she says awareness of the importance of bees to the ecosystem has led to an increase in demand for their rescue services each year.
“People are willing to pay a few teenagers to come into their house and safely, humanely remove the bees from their home, and they know that these bees are going somewhere to be taken care of,” she said.
According to the Canadian Professional Beekeepers Association, the largest number of bees to date has survived the winter of 2020-21 in Nova Scotia since similar reports began in 2007.
Encouraging prospects
This success is due in part to the fact that bee imports are banned in Nova Scotia, according to Tyler Hobbes, president of the Nova Scotia Beekeepers Association.
“We really have to rely on each other right here in the countryside. If disaster strikes in the winter, we need each other. “We are the answer to each other to get out of it,” Hobbes said.
Tyler Hobbes is president of the Nova Scotia Beekeepers Association. (CBC)
“So it really makes Nova Scotia quite unique when it comes to beekeeping and it really focuses us on where we put our efforts, money and time to make sure our population is stable.”
He says that in the last few years, gratitude for bees has grown “by leaps and bounds”.
“People have seen a bee and are killing it. Now people are offering her water or some honey to see if she will grow up and fly away again, “he said.
Dugas’ children said they understood that some people were afraid of bees. Sarah herself was “horrified” when she first interacted with their hives. But after a few years with them, they both said that their favorite thing about bees was how gentle they were.
They even taught their friends about bees.
“Gentle” beings
“None of them are terrified, but I had a few friends who were beekeepers with me and they said it was a very enjoyable experience and they really enjoy how gentle the bees can be,” Gregory said.
Dugas Bees, the family business, produces honey and humanely removes unwanted bees from people’s properties. (Steve Lawrence / CBC News)
After all, Gregory wants people to know that bees are not a real danger.
“It’s good to have them in your property – better pollination for your flowers and trees in your yard. And they don’t bother you unless you bother them.
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