Queen Dianne, grew the East Village Hive from a modest colony, survived a bear attack, and restored the bee population in time for successful overwintering. Like the family member you can always rely on, East Village hive is a strong and resilient hive that always seems to overcome the odds and produce enough honey for winter plus more to share.

This hive was purchased as a nuc (baby) hive from a supplier in the Frasier Valley of British Columbia in honor of our sweet cousin, also from the valley, whom the queen is named for, Queen Nicole. Her motto is 'slow and steady'. She has built up a strong colony that reliably produces extra honey every season.

Little Fife, a new hive created last year as a tribute to our Scottish heritage and a gift for our grandson, was established by combining frames of bees from two of our original hives and giving a new queen from California. Although our grandson is not yet able to speak and name her, she has already demonstrated her resilience against the harsh Canadian winters and her capability to govern the hive effectively.