An Argentinian honey company that moved to Canada one year ago has enjoyed a flowering business and safety in Falkland.
Honey Onyx Apiary in Falkland is an offshoot of an Argentinian apiary run by the same family called Apicola Danangie. While the Argentinian company has been in business since 1991, Onyx has only been in full operation since March 2018.
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Daniela D鈥橝mbros, a second generation beekeeper whose sister runs the apiary in Argentina, believes the move was necessary for the future of the business.
鈥淎rgentina is not Venezuela but it鈥檚 South America so it has many problems. We were looking for new horizons and we wanted to do things well and to grow,鈥� said D鈥橝mbros. 鈥淚n Argentina people don鈥檛 buy honey on shelves, they normally don鈥檛 eat so much honey so we had to export it mainly to Europe and some to the U.S.鈥�
These thoughts culminated when in 2015 D鈥橝mbros attended the American Beekeeping Federation Conference & Tradeshow in Florida where she met Canadian beekeepers who told her to set up her hives in Canada.
D鈥橝mbros listened. A year later she visited apiaries in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. Before she left for the trip, a friend told her that there were Argentinian beekeepers in Vanderhoof so she ended up visiting them too.
In 2017 D鈥橝mbros received a tip that Pat and Richard Springborn of SilverStar apiaries in Falkland were looking to sell their operation. That same year, D鈥橝mbros and her family started their immigration paperwork and, in March 2018, made the move and started operations as quickly as possible.
Soon after the move, D鈥橝mbros started to notice things in her new country that wouldn鈥檛 happen in Argentina.
鈥淲e live in the farm and we don鈥檛 close our door. I only close the gate if I have to go out and on the weekend,鈥� said D鈥橝mbros. 鈥淲e live here really safe.鈥�
An unexpected aspect of Canadian living for D鈥橝mbros is the sense of community created by farmers in the region and other residents in the area.
鈥淥ur neighbour is really nice, he has helped us a lot. He鈥檚 like our advisor so when we don鈥檛 know what to do or where to buy things we always go and ask him,鈥� D鈥橝mbros said.
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When a fire broke out and levelled a neighbour鈥檚 home in an hour, she watched as the people of Falkland came to their aid.
鈥淲e went to help them, the other neighbours came to help him and the other neighbours came to help him. And people on the road stopped and also helped,鈥� D鈥橝mbros said. 鈥淚t was for me my first time seeing that 鈥� how people could work together and help.鈥�
Onyx currently has 300 hives scattered throughout the Shuswap but D鈥橝mbros says this year they will reach 500.
If you would like to taste honey made in B.C. or Argentina, Honey Onyx Apiary will be attending the downtown Salmon Arm Farmers Market on Saturday, June 22.
Cameron.thomson@saobserver.net
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