Farmer Kevin (in the multi-coloured shirt) toured us around their lovely farm that is located just outside of Dundas.
Despite the severe thunderstorm in the night before, they were still willing to host us despite having lost power. Luckily, despite the strong winds, they did not lose any trees.
Weir's Lane is also an apiary. At their farm, they have 15 hives with approximately 20,000 bees in each hive. Over the winter, they lost 7 hives. Kevin believes this is due to a pesticide that the bees are being exposed to as they are collecting and pollinating. They cleaned out the dead bees, burned them in case of disease and had to start over again this season. So the 7 hives will not be producing honey this year.
On a happier note, Weir's Lane is part of a pollination initative through the Hamilton-Halton Watershed Stewardship (HHWS) where the farm has invested land, time and soil to a pollinator's project. They are growing plants like Black Eye Susans in their area to encourage pollinators to do their thing. As the project rolls out, grades 6-7's will be invited to the farm to learn about the importance of pollinators.
We were treated to lavender infused honey samples and lavender infused lemonade - it was such a lovely way to end the tour on such a warm day!
Thank you to all the participants who came and asked great questions, thanks to Kevin for his time and to his team for letting us take over their farm.
Special thanks to Smart Commute Hamilton for their continued support.
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