Village Artists

 

The Honey Shack - Larry & Tammy Solberg

Larry and Tammy started on the family farm as cattle producers. The cattle industry has seen some hard times these last several years so they were looking for ways to make the farm sustainable.  The Honey Shack was born.  Bee keeping has been a generational thing on the Solberg farm. Larry’s father had bees and his grandfather had bees. When Larry and Tammy first moved out to the family farm, Larry had wanted to get into bees but Tammy wasnt going for the idea - she was a city girl. Being a cattle producer was a new and challenging thing for her as it was. In Tammy’s own words, “Bees seemed a little…….no, a lot scary.”   

About 5 years ago friends of theirs got into bee keeping and Larry got the “bug” again.  This time he was not to be stopped.  He wanted bees. They started with 2 hives then figured since they knew nothing about bee keeping in the 21st century they might as well try two hives. Four years later – they have over 150 hives. 

The name “The Honey Shack” came from one of Tammy’s favorite songs “The Love Shack” by the B-52’s. They started with a gazebo on Highway 6 and eventually moved to craft sales and trade shows.  

Honey Shack honey is primarily alfalfa clover honey. It is a light clear honey that has a deliciously mild taste.

Creating and selling candles grew from making candles for a few friends and family to a thriving business where they sell candles as well as the honey.  Beeswax is a natural product from the bees. It has a natural honey smell and beeswax candles burn cleaner, brighter and longer than paraffin candles.  

Now that the bees are here to stay, Larry and Tammy are moving in another direction. They are become a federally inspected facility. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is in the process of certifying their honey house. The final inspection is to take place before the end of July, 2008. The inspection covers everything from how and when they treat the hives, to food safety when they extract the honey and packaging the end product - safe clean honey.