Honey: Sweet success

Horizons

Friday, December 14, 2018
The golden liquid produced by bees is the delight of gourmands everywhere, in addition to being a great business opportunity for anyone interested. From artisanal products to new technologies, here are five companies operating in the bee business.

Miels d’Anicet

Anicet Desrochers created Miels d’Anicet—a company that raises queen bees, produces wild honey and builds beehives—in the Laurentians in 2001. Today Desrochers and his life partner manage 1,500 beehives, a honey production facility, a learning centre, a seasonal restaurant and a boutique offering fine gourmet products, honey-based drinks and cosmetics made from beeswax.

Anicet Desrochers


Alvéole

Étienne Lapierre and his partners, Alexandre McLean and Declan Rankin Jardin, had an ambitious project: installing beehives on urban rooftops in order to make beekeeping more sustainable for both the environment and for the bees. Their business was not only highly successful, but also enabled them to reintroduce citizens to the environment while harvesting the fruits of their worker bees’ labour.

Étienne Lapierre - Alvéole

 

Intermiel

The Intermiel apiary has offered its honey, apple and maple products since 1976. Under the leadership of Éléonore Macle, daughter of the founders, the company today also offers many on-site agritourism activities.

Éléonore Macle


Nectar

Nectar offers a tool to help beekeepers practise their art by allowing them to access what goes on inside of a beehive. The sensors and algorithms developed by Marc-André Roberge and his team enable unprecedented access to the interiors of the hives, opening up a kind of dialogue between bees and humans.

Beekeeper with hive - Nectar

 

Aliments Sibon

This food manufacturer acquired by four friends, two couples who are also entrepreneurs, offers close to 200 products ranging from honey to pasta sauces to maple water.

Aliments Sibon