Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52For many people, beekeeping is like defusing a bomb: the risks are great and the rewards are sweet. It would be safe to say that that most of us are happiest knowing someone else is doing the dirty work, no? The exception is when you are as passionate about bees as local bee- keeper and Caesarea resident, Jon Todd and want the world to see how people and bees can happily co-exist together. So, when Focus accepted Jon’s in- vitation to get up close and personal with him at his bee yard this summer, we couldn’t resist the opportunity and headed out to see what would draw such a quiet, industrious guy to the sticky business of honey making. Tucked away in a quiet corner of a hayfield of an organic farming opera- tion here in Scugog and protected by an electrified fence, Jon Todd’s bee yard is surrounded by cows, beauti- ful natural flowers and a healthy dose of shade. Though he asked us for the purposes of this article not to reveal its exact location, what we can reveal that, in beekeeping terms, it is in a prime location (and in beekeep- ing terms, hive placement, like real estate, is all about location, location, location). Proximity to an organic farm is important to Jon as he feels that his honey benefits from being culti- vated in an area that is not sprayed with pesticides and herbicides as the practice can sometimes be lethal to a colony. In fact, the day I visited, the news was inundated with a report of a bee die-off that had occurred in the US after crops had been sprayed for the Zika virus. Several million bees died in the process, creating a crisis for food producers in the areas affected. For Jon, the issue isn’t complicated: the honey simply tastes better when the crops nearby are organic. “It’s just that simple.” Jon comes to beekeeping after hav- ing completed a full career in manu- facturing where he helped set-up and manage mechanical operations ...................... Please turn to page 4 Jon’s bee yard. He built each box by hand and surrounded it by electric fence to keep out predators. Bee-ing Jon Keeper of the bees - - - FOCUS - OCTOBER 2016 3