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Buzzing for Bees: The Sweet Career of Ed the Beekeeper

Oct 1, 2024 | 2:00 AM

When Ed Nowek took a summer job beekeeping in Alberta’s Peace River Region, he had no idea it would blossom into a lifelong career that would take him around the world. This newfound passion would also flourish years later into a beloved Okanagan landmark.

That first job was at a honey farm that produced hundreds of thousands of pounds of honey to be extracted from the hives each season. Despite the extremely physically tiring work, long hours, and a plethora of bee stings, Ed fell in love with the trade.

It was the early 1970s. Beekeeping for honey production was a thriving industry, and it was easy to keep your hive healthy and thriving.

Ed took his love and skill for beekeeping to work in New South Wales and later West Australia, where the Eucalyptus trees were so thick with nectar it would drip all over his work truck. He remembers hives had to be raised off the ground to keep the invasive cane toads from eating the bees as they came out to forage.

Ed also spent a season beekeeping in Veracruz, Mexico, working with a large commercial operation to raise queen bees and ship package bees to Canada.

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Another exciting international beekeeping experience was the groves of California, where he spent long hours raising bees to pollinate the lucrative almond farms.

Over the years of beekeeping in Canada and around the world, Ed developed a passion for sharing his knowledge and experiences gained working with bees. He discovered how little people seemed to know about these amazing creatures, and the more he shared his stories, the more passionate he became.

Fast forward a decade or so, after leaving the beekeeping industry for a while, Ed began to consider starting his own bee business. It wasn’t long before he settled on his vision for the new start-up. It was based on his belief that humans could learn a lot from honeybees.

His idea was to create a tourist attraction and country store that would focus on educating people about the amazing world of the honey bee. He believed, and still does, that honey bees provide the lesson that together we can achieve much more than as individuals.

When you look at what a single bee can accomplish in her lifetime—the production of less than 1/8th of a teaspoon of honey—it may seem insignificant. However, by moving beyond self-interest, the hive and colony of bees working collectively achieve amazing feats.

Bee World opened in Armstrong in 1997 and moved six years later into Vernon along with the new name, Planet Bee.

Planet Bee Honey Farm brought Ed’s vision to life. For over 27 years, he shared his passion and love for bees and bee products with countless visitors.

Growing up in the family business were his two children, Olivia and James, who were in elementary school when the business was established. Now as Ed reaches retirement, he is filled with gratitude that his two children have expressed their desire to take over the family business and continue delivering his mission.

With individual passions for the environment, community and natural products (Olivia), as well as education, mead, and technology (James), Ed’s children are poised to guide Planet Bee into a buzzing future of continued success as one of Vernon’s cornerstone local businesses.

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If you’ve been to Planet Bee, you’ve seen a glimpse of the positive impact Ed has made on our region and beyond. Haven’t been yet? Visit soon and see what the buzz is about!

Planet Bee Honey Farm and Honeymoon Meadery is open year round at 5011 Bella Vista Road.