Family Beekeeping History
Robert (Bob) Hamilton came to Canada in 1910
from Scotland at age 16. He had been raised in a beekeeping family so it was only
natural that he would be interested in beekeeping in Saskatchewan. He was
located near the Qu'Appelle Valley area, at Neudorf SK which had an abundance
of wild flowers for the bees to forage. At the time mostly cereal crops were
grown. In the spring of 1911; he
purchased two colonies. The bees did very well over the years averaging about
120 to 160 pounds. per colony. In the good Wolf Willow year’s the bees averaged
near the 180 pound mark. In the early years the bees would be overwintered in
the root root cellar under the house. They were transported on hay wagons and
had to be wrapped very well to prevent bees from escaping. It was not unheard
of for horses to be killed when a hive fell off the Wagon. Package bees were also imported from
California, and arrived by train. Bob’s
son Sandy would ride the train back from California with the bees
In 1923 Toni Mack, of Lumsden. John Hubbard,
and Robert Hamilton Sr. organized the Saskatchewan Beekeepers Association
assisted by Hedley Auld who was then Deputy Minister of Agriculture. The first
meeting was in a tent at the Regina Fair in August 1923. Between 1923 and 1926
Robert did inspection work for the Department of Agriculture in the Abernethy
and Balcarres districts. In 1924 the family lived in Neudorf, SK. In 1938 Bob
was giving lectures for the Department of Agriculture; as far away as Swift
current, SK. In 1939 they moved to Aylsham, SK where Bob & Cora ran an 800
colony bee operation until 1962.
Bob’s brother Willy living in Scotland, wrote
the book “the Art of Beekeeping” (1945).
He managed the bees at the University of Glasgow and was a Lecturer at
Yorkshire Institute, University OF Leeds, & West Scotland College. His nephew Graham is a bee hobbyist
In 1946, with the help of partners Grant
& Dunn; Bob started a packing line; packaging Northern Blossom Brand honey.
Bill & Kath Hamilton started Hamilton's
Bee Ranch in Nipawin. SK. in 1954; purchasing the bee outfit, Clover Apiaries,
from Sarkisian & Craik, located at 914 9th Ave. West in Nipawin.
Bob & Bill both packed Northern Blossoms
Brand honey from 1957-59; with the head office in Aylsham. Bob passed away in
1962. Cora sold the outfit to Kath’s
brother Charles Gane. Richard Gane also
built a large bee outfit nearby, and later moved Northeast of Nipawin.
In 1972 Bill & Kath started construction
of their new plant northeast of Codette, SK. They moved from Nipawin to Codette
in 1979. Northern Blossoms wasn’t packed from 1972 - 1979 because of the
increased work load of construction.
GPS Location 53.286206,-104.024104 The Hamilton Bee Ranch property at Codette
was sold in 2020 Yardsite
Video. We had a large sale to
cleanup our treasures
from 50 years of collecting Toys we all had. Some
very rusty iron.
Their 4 sons are still involved in
Beekeeping. Robert has bees west of
Codette, & north of Regina, SK, with his son Andrew. Jack & Loraine manage a large blueberry
pollination business in Nova Scotia.
Their son Chris manages a pollination outfit near Welland, Ont. Scott is a hobbyist beekeeper at Star City,
SK. His son Morgan works for Chris at Welland.
Cam has bees near Pontrilas, SK.
In 1978 W. Robert Hamilton updated the
Northern Blossoms design to include Metric, French, and UPC bar code labeling
requirements. Rob continues to package Northern Blossoms Honey.
Andrew Hamilton moved to Regina, SK in 2008,
& has started a bee farm there. He has been President of the Regina Bee
Club & promotes beekeeping at the Regina Fair Booth. He mentors new
beekeepers, sells beeswax, honey, queens & Nucleus colonies. GPS location 50.590235, -104.573961
Richard Gane’s grandson Dave has Super Dave’s
honey northeast of Nipawin.