Loving the life of bees

Liam Sisson at age 15, rescuing a ‘wild’ honey bee swarm from a pear orchard. Photo by Lisa St. Laurent

By Patricia Lane & Liam Sisson

Liam Sisson wants to teach you about bees. This 19-year-old University of British Columbia science student from Kelowna, B.C., spends his summers keeping bees and hosting guided beekeeping tours for visitors.

Tell us about your work.

Arlo's Honey Farm employs me during the summers to keep their bees and help with other work, like purifying the beeswax for candles, bottling and labelling honey for sale, and minding the store.

Bees are calmest in the early morning before they get hot. The reality of climate change means the number of days over 35 C is increasing, so we start as early as 6:30 or 7 a.m. We visit each hive at least once every two weeks and check the health of the bees, any disease indicators and their honey production. In the afternoons, I love to give educational tours to tourists, especially when they bring their children and I get to introduce them to this fascinating species.

At UBC, I am studying microbiology and immunology. Last year, I gave a presentation to the faculty about some of the ways humans have been using honey for wound sterilization and mummification for thousands of years. These days there is interest in propolis, a bee resin, for treating bacterial infections and reducing inflammation.

I moved with my parents from Calgary to the Okanagan when I was seven and was delighted to be able to start gardening. I was a serious “homesteader” and grew many things from tomatoes to herbs. As I learned more about how to grow food, I also learned about plant symbiosis and eventually, the importance of bees for pollination. Once I understood that marigolds keep pests away and attract pollinators, I saw them as more than just pretty flowers and planted a lot of them!