Since the 1920s southern Alberta has been a hotspot for beekeeping in Canada. Despite the wind, which makes it challenging for bees to fly, the region has long sunny days and irrigation crops that produce excellent nectar for bees. 

The first honey producers in southern Alberta raised bees as a sideline to other projects. Grocer George Kerr and his brother established 45 colonies of bees east of Lethbridge in 1919, producing about 2,000 kg of honey that year. Two years later, Coaldale-based Bill and Jack Graham established the first commercial apiary in Alberta. Over the next twenty years, the Grahams expanded to 750 hives and were active in the formation of both the Alberta Beekeepers’ Association in 1933 and the Alberta Honey Producers Co-op in 1940. Bill’s son Alan took over the business in 1950.

George Riedel was a California beekeeper who established apiaries in Guatemala before moving to Coaldale in 1924. He was soon producing one-third of all honey in Alberta. In 1931, the “Honey King of the South” embarked for China with some 5,000 bee packages, each containing about 10,000 bees, to teach western beekeeping methods. Riedel reportedly became an advisor on beekeeping to four provinces in China, but he abandoned the venture when many of his hives were destroyed by bombings during the Second World War.

Rudolf Schurtz was another beekeeper who trained in Utah before moving to Stirling, Alberta. He and business partner Robert Fansett organized the Superior Honey Company in 1926, which marketed both liquid and granulated honey. The company also supplied bees and equipment to more than 40 individual beekeepers in Alberta.

Beekeeping has continued to be a strong industry in southern Alberta since becoming established in the 1920s, both for honey production and pollination services. Explore more about the history and future of bees and beekeeping in the Galt’s new exhibit, Buzzworhty: Beekeeping in Southwestern Alberta.