Business Feature - Black Bear Creek Farms

Q&A with Owners Michael & April DeVuyst

How long have you been offering farm to table services?

We started the farm in 2018, by planting garlic and then expanded the next year with more veggies. In May of 2019 we started out with two beehives and have expanded every year since, including our flavoured honey in the summer of 2020.

What kind of yummy food can people order from you?

Every year we have a wide variety of different veggies, we always like to experiment with what we can grow, such as jalapeños this year. We also have our raw honey and a variety of pickled items, including fan favourites such as pickled garlic scapes and cowboy candy. Our flavoured honey has been a huge hit, we now have 9 flavours, plus seasonal ones, such as pumpkin spice.

Chocolate honey... please elaborate!

What can we say, who doesn’t like chocolate! It’s the perfect sweet treat to add to your coffee, on toast, in your baking or granola, or even just eat right off the spoon.

If this is my first time ordering farm to table, will you help me and guide me through the process?

Ordering can be done through our Facebook or Instagram pages, by messaging us, or just giving us a call. Our website is in the works right now and hope to have it up and running next year.

Do you keep your own bees? If so, how much work is that and how long does it take to learn the skills required?

Yes, we keep our own bees. We are always learning about beekeeping, every day, every season is an experience. In early spring, mid March, we bring our hives out of their winter home, which is inside an insulated shop, and start feeding them with a combination of sugar water and pollen patties. By the end we split our hives to create more hives.

By June they are strong enough to go out and pollinate so we don’t have to feed them anymore. At the end of July we start pulling honey from the hives, filtering and jarring for everyone to enjoy. We pull honey until about the end of August and start preparing the hives for winter.

Your honey sounds divine. Where did you learn the art of making flavoured honey?

When we started selling our honey, we had many people ask about flavours, and the experimenting began. We often have people suggesting new flavours to try. Some have been hits, some haven’t worked at all. All of our flavours are naturally flavoured, we don’t use anything artificial. 

How large of a geographic area do you serve? How far away can you deliver your products?

Delivery is within 150km, but we do also ship. Our products have gone all over Canada, from Vancouver island to Saskatchewan, and all the way to Ontario.

Are most people familiar with the value and importance of fresh, local food or do you find yourself educating people often?

In the last couple years more people have become aware of how important it is to know where your food comes from and shopping from local businesses and producers. People have become more aware of the importance of our local agricultural system. We have also noticed more awareness of the importance of bees in our world, and to our food security. 

How important to your business are the markets you attend in places like Bay Tree, Bonanza, Dunvegan etc.?

Very important! The markets have enabled us to get our products out to the community. By personally being at the markets we have the privilege of getting to know our customers and learning about what’s important to them. We are very proud to offer good quality local products to customers. 

Are there any questions you wish we had asked?

Nothing we can think of!

If I were looking for you in your spare time, what would you likely be doing?

Spare time is pretty rare in the summer, but we love being on the farm. We have created a life that we simply love to live, even when life is so crazy with the bees, gardens and greenhouses, markets and all the farm projects. Our relaxation time during the summer is often sitting by a bonfire, visiting with friends and family, or just with our dogs. Our winters are mostly spent in the mountains, we love snowmobiling. 

Find out more information at the Black Bear Creek Farms Business Listing.