Why Ethical Beekeeping Matters

Building Our Hives: Reclaimed Wood and Why Ethical Beekeeping Matters

When we started Carefree Honeybee, we wanted to do things right from the ground up – literally. That meant not just thinking about the honey we’d harvest, but about how we housed our bees and the impact our practices would have on these incredible creatures and the environment around us.

Starting with Reclaimed Materials

Building hives from recycled materials isn’t just eco-friendly – it’s practical and can provide everything you need except the screws. We used reclaimed wood from my construction business that would have ended up in the landfill.

What Ethical Beekeeping Means to Us

Ethical beekeeping isn’t just a buzzword – it’s about putting the bees’ needs first. Here’s how we approach it:

Harvesting with Respect We only take surplus honey, ensuring our bees have ample reserves to survive the winter rather than replacing their food with sugar water.  In Ottawa, where Ontario beekeepers reported 50% overwinter honey bee mortality for 2023-2024 Ontario, leaving enough honey for the bees isn’t just ethical – it’s essential for their survival.

Minimal Interference We schedule inspections sparingly and use gentle techniques to minimize stress on the colony, often observing external hive activity for insights without unnecessary intrusion. Bees have their own rhythms and patterns, and constant disruption can stress them out.

Chemical-Free Environment We position our hives in pesticide-free locations and leave ample honey on the hives for the bees to sustain themselves through winter, just as nature intended. The areas around Ottawa where our bees forage are carefully chosen to give them access to diverse, uncontaminated nectar sources.

Why It Matters

Bees are responsible for pollinating over 75% of food crops globally and approximately one-third of the food we eat City of Ottawa. Here in Ottawa, we’re lucky to have hundreds of bee species, and our practices aim to support not just our honeybees but the entire pollinator ecosystem.

When you buy honey or candles from Carefree Honeybee, you’re supporting practices that prioritize bee health over maximum honey production. You’re getting a product that’s truly as natural as it gets – no shortcuts, no compromises.

Our bees live in homes built with care from reclaimed materials. They forage on pesticide-free flowers around Ottawa. They keep enough of their own honey to thrive through our cold winters. And we get to share the surplus with you.

That’s ethical beekeeping. That’s the Carefree Honeybee way.

Want to learn more about our practices or visit our hives? Drop us a line – we love talking bees!