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ESCARPMENTMAGAZINE
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CA
SUMMER
2016
MarnieCoxwas introduced to bees when she visited beekeeper, Bill Celhoffer and
began sharingmoreandmorebee relatedphotos and news through facebook. Then
shepostedphotosof helpingDerekandPamGibsonwith their honeyprocessingoper-
ation.Soonafter shepostedexcitingnewsofgettingherownhives—Marniehasbecome
a real ‘BeeGirl’. I visitedMarnie, her husbandFrankand sonOwenas theywerebusy
paintingbeeboxes in their laneway. Currently they liveon thewest sideof theCityof
OwenSound, but haveanofferona farm in thecountrywhere theycan raisebeesand
develop theirnewbusiness,NorthernBeeCompany—another familyoperation—Marnie
asheadapiarist andFrankand their three sons, asassistant apiarists.
Marnie’s loveof bees goes back toher early childhood inElliot Lakewhere shehada
fondness fordancing in theclover fieldbyherhomewhile thehoneybeesbuzzedaround
her. Last year shedecided it was time to investigate this romanceand, out of theblue,
contactedMr.Celhofferabout visitinghisbeeyard. Thoughhewas takenabackby by
this stranger’s request, he invitedMarnie to comeandworkwith his bees. She took to
it... likebees tohoney.Heproved tobean inspirational teacherandencouragedMarnie
tovisit otherapiarists, especiallywomenbeekeepers, because theydo thingsa littledif-
ferently. Forone thing, theyuse smallerbeeboxes so theydon’t have to lift thoseheavy
cases.Marniedid just thatandbeganworkingwithanothergreat teacher,DerekGibson,
aswellas,CarmenieStemmler.Carmenieoffered theuseofherworkshopover thewinter
soMarnie’s familycouldbuildboxes, framesandotherbeekeepingparaphernalia. The
one thing thatMarnie learned is that thebeekeeping community is very close knit and
helpeachotheroutwhenever theneed is there.
Though shehas onlybeenat this vocation for a littleover ayear, shehas learneda lot
aboutbeesaswellasherown family. Frankand theboysare takingmom’spassionand
runningwith it.Whileworkingat theStemmierworkshop,Carmeniesuggestedsomeone
shouldbuilda jig tomake the jobeasier.Havingexperience inhigh school shopclass,
MarnieandFrank’s son Joel, pickedupon the ideaandquicklymadea jig that did the
job. At dinner, everyone takes part in discussions on how to solve some issuewith the
beeoperation. She is really impressedwithhow theboys jump right inand try tocome
upwith ideas.
At the present timeMarnie’s bee yards are scatteredaround the region, though they
planoncentralizing theirbusiness, theywill still keep twoor threebeeyards indifferent
areas. Thatway if onehivehashealth issues itwill notwipeout their entireoperation.
There are always threats tooperatingbee colonies... the pesticide issue continues to
loomover bee health. Varroamites can kill a colonywith paralysis andother viruses.
Now there isadestructive hivebeetle that isworking itswaynorth.Malnutrition isalways
aconcernwhere toomanybeesare inaparticular area.Derekexplained that this has
recently becomemore acute in our region, because large bee operations in southern
Ontario have beenmoving their colonies north toget away fromNeonicotinoids that
areusedon farms in their region. Thesebeecoloniesarehugeand requiremassiveareas
of floweringplants for thebees togather pollen. This couldbea threat to thehealthof
our small local beepopulations.
Our local ‘momandpop’ beeoperators are still achieving success, but they needour
help tocontinue togrow:
1.
Buy local honey. The honey in supermarketsmay say100%Canadian honey, but
that isn’tnecessarily thecase.Thecurrent labeling lawsarevagueand largecorporations
takeadvantageof this. Themajorityof their honeycomes fromoverseasand it cancon-
tainbacteria that canbeharmful to local beepopulations.
2.
Allowyourdandelions toblossom.Honeybees lovedandelions,and Imust say,dan-
delionhoney is very tasty.
3.
Plant bee friendly plants such as allium, asters, sunflowers or daisy-type flowers in
yourgarden.
4.
Byallmeansdonot usepesticides, theykillmore thenpests.
5.
Encourageyour local government toplant bee friendly flowersand tell them to stop
theuseof pesticides.
Let’smake sure thebeegirls continue to thrive.
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Marnie Cox - Beekeeper selfie
Marnie processing honey - Photo | Carmenie Stemmler
Frank, Owen and Marnie Cox painting their new bee boxes
