Believing In Local

At Backed By Bees in the last little while, we have been through a lot of change. It’s inevitable, and something that every start up business is forced to deal with. Among all the change the three of us have taken on, we started with an idea, a belief that has kept it all grounded and focused. The idea being ‘local’; from the physical location of operations, to the community we are joining, to the products we are able to produce, from the land to the hive to the bottle, everything is rooted in supporting local.

Early on, we realized that we had three distinct passions or crafts that were unique in their required skill sets, but were all very closely linked, farming, beekeeping and mead making. Even though they take very different and unique skill sets to be successful, in the end they are all really just means to be able to provide local product to a network of people who care. Our goal is to connect people to ‘place’ in our story, products and involvement in the community. “The place” really being where it all happens – from soil to flower, from flower to beehive, and from beehive to bottle in Burlington’s backyard.

On one hand, building the community is important to us. The goal is to function as the local rendezvous between urban Burlington/Milton/Oakville and rural Halton. We are looking to highlight what Halton region has to offer in its ‘backyard’ by utilizing the land to produce truly hyperlocal products. On the other hand, it’s not building, but playing a role and participating in communities, associations and organizations that already exist. We constantly look towards organizations, clubs and businesses to sharpen our skills and provoke thought. The resources are invaluable, and arguably the most important of them being the people. The experiences and knowledge is priceless and it only helps to challenge the way we think and carry things out. We are currently playing roles in organizations like the Ontario Mead Makers Association, the Ontario Beekeepers Association, and the Ontario Farm Fresh Community. We look and lean on these resources in order to better help us play a responsible role in our crafts.

Our goal is to be a place to gather that brings the local community and local craft together to highlight what we have happening in Halton Region.