A local, home-based business with partnerships all over the Bulkley Valley is expanding this year.
Bulkley Valley Hive & Honey is a busy business that is a commercial bee keeping operation and has a full line of bath and body products using honey and beeswax.
Ninety per cent of their products either have honey or beeswax in them.
Trevor and Breeann Doerksen currently work out of their house but are building a studio on site to grow their business.
The couple has officially been in business for two years but they have had hives for five years and Breeann has been making soap for about six.
They will be able to do all of their honey extracting and soap making from the studio.
Breeann said there a couple of challenges to running their business.
“We are dependent on the weather,” she said. “A wet year affects us, a dry year affects us. Forest fires are a big threat for us. All of our bees are located on the edge of farmer’s fields or the forest.”
She added that time is also a challenge.
“It is just my husband and I and we have kids and we both have other jobs. As we try to expand our business that is a big challenge for us.”
The couple eventually wants to run the business full-time.
“My parents have owned property in Telkwa for over 35 years and my husband and I live on the property now and we are taking over the family farm,” she said.
“We don’t want to be cattle ranchers but we want the farm to make us money. We need to sustain ourselves. We are noticing the bees are really active spring/summer and we put them away for the winter in the fall.
“That is when soaps and the other products really ramp up. So we’ve created a nice equilibrium, busy with one thing and when that tapers off we are busy with the next thing.”
Aside from physically growing with their new studio plans, they are also growing their relationships with other businesses in town.
They currently have a unique partnership with Smithers Brewing Company, which uses their honey in some of their beer recipes.
“We sold them honey in the past. But now we have an agreement with them where they own the hives and we mange the hives for them and they get all the honey out of their hives. They aren’t just shelling out money, they have a sustainable resource they own and they can use. If they need more honey they can buy some from us.”
Bulkley Valley Hive & Honey also makes a line of soaps with beer that the brewery sells.
“We use spent grains and four different kinds of beer and make soap. They are only available to purchase at the brewery.”
Breann said they partner with local producers because they want to keep their focus on using local ingredients.
“We’ve partnered with goat farmers, we use local grown botanicals in our soaps. We use tallow and lard, which is animal fat. So something that would be thrown away, we turn it into a soap and try to use as many products we can that we find in the Bulkley Valley.”
In Smithers, Heartstrings has the full line of products. Mainerz and Paul’s Bakery also sell some products and/or honey. Tyhee Market in Telkwa also carries some of their products. There are also places in Terrace, Prince Rupert, Hazelton, Kelowna, Surrey, and Rosswood with Bulkley Valley Hive & Honey products.