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about-honey-onyx-apiary
about-honey-onyx-apiary

About Our Family

Our family has been involved in the honey business for decades now. We are the second generation of beekeepers in Argentina and are proud of our parent’s legacy.

Apicola DANANGIE (our Argentinian company) has become a national leader in our industry. We employ over 75 people, as well as a reference in South America. We thrive on growth, that is why we decided to expand our apiary to Canada.

2016

We joined the BC Honey Producers Association training, met Richard and Pat Springborn and continue their path.

2017

We found a farm in Okanagan to raise our bees on the banks of the Salmon River and opened Honey Onyx Apiary. A bold decision that we embrace with enthusiasm and optimism.

2018

With over 300 beehives and had our first honey crop in the Okanagan. The Honey Barn or Blue Barn was built, a perfect place to fit our growing needs.

As Fall was approaching, we adventured to a lot of Christmas events, we started doing our first beeswax candles and introduced the RAW honey We experienced our first winter, (as did our bees) and we were thrilled to know we can do it!

2019

We bought new nucs to get to our goal of managing 600 beehives.

We started doing pollination and were able to crop more honey varieties. As a result, the RAW honey grew to include Clover, Dandelion and Alfalfa. Also, we produced (for the first time) honeycombs. (Will we ever get to the optimum managing techniques to produce honeycombs? That question remains unanswered.)

We updated the packing line with brand new equipment, which allow us to offer a standardized product and cut down the packing times.

We loved attending the Vernon and Salmon Arm Downtown Farmer Markets, and a lot of other events, to get people to know us and share with them our passion. Bee Yours Store in Kelowna opened its doors at the end of the year.

We also met a couple of black bears and they taught us to always pay attention to make sure our electric fences are turned on.

about-honey-onyx-apiary
about-honey-onyx-apiary
about-honey-onyx-apiary
about-honey-onyx-apiary

2020

March 2020, Covid hit and despite its complications around the world, we managed to keep our 600 beehives alive!

We did our first pollen harvest in the Okanagan, quite an exciting adventure as bees challenged us a lot!

Our  honey harvest went well but were late in some of the autumn work, which played a significant role in 2020-21 winter losses.

Since the Health Authorities allowed it, we participated in Salmon Arm Downtown Farmer Market and were happy to connect with the community again.

Our second Bee Yours location was built at the front of our farm in Falkland. We moved the packing line into the new space, so only the honey extraction at the Blue Barn (Our guys were happy to have their own place to mess around). Since the first day the Farm Store opened, we have received so much support from the local community which continues to show us that this is the RIGHT place to BEE.

2021

When spring came and we were able to check the beehives, our fears came true. We had a high percentage of winter loss. We quickly purchased some bee packages to mitigate the impact.

We took some beehives to the mountain to harvest Fireweed honey. Every time we went to check these bees, we thought we were in paradise. The air was clean, the hills were covered in the pink/purplish fireweed flowers, we could smell the nectar from the flowers and hear the bees flying. But one day, the White Rock Lake fire was too close to Falkland and thanks to CSRD support, we got a permission to bring them down (as all the area was under evacuation order).

Despite a challenging summer, as most of our bees were very near the fires and under a constant smoke, (thanks to having a dedicated team to manage the bees) we were able to have a decent honey harvest and put the beehives to winter in really good shape.

As the Farm Store was getting busier, we launched our online store but decided to close the Kelowna store (we want to thank the Kelowna community and hope to stay in touch with them).

Keep in the buzz as we have big plans to fly into this year and beyond.

about-honey-onyx-apiary
about-honey-onyx-apiary
about-honey-onyx-apiary
about-honey-onyx-apiary

Thank you for continuing to support our family honey farm.
We love making honey for you. Reach out to us if you have any questions!

Visit Our Farm Store!

1-250-503-7694

3265 97 hwy, Falkland BC
[email protected]

Come and visit our Farm Store and pick up your fresh honey or talk to us about bringing our honey to your retail location.