Local pollinators
The Year of a Mason Bee: Life Cycle of Our Spring Native Bee
From a sleeping adult in a cocoon to a busy spring nester sealing mud walls—how one mason bee generation unfolds across a single year.
Princeton & Delta, British Columbia
The Foraging Bee
Happy, Healthy, Heavy — working together, they make Harmony.
I’m Mark Vanderende. I keep bees the 4H Natural Way. The bees share the surplus, and I invite families, businesses and new beekeepers to learn alongside the amazing honeybee — and to find, in that attention, a higher awareness of nature.
Honey sold out · 2027 through adoption →Adopt a Hive · reserve 2027 honey: $200 · $250 · $350 →Business partnerships from $1,000 →Two-hour workshops: $25 youth · $35 adults · $75 family →
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Your first year with bees · 12 journal entries · All ages
Beeginner Beekeeping
Have Fun With your Bees the 4H Natural Way
From choosing your first bees to preparing for winter. Learn one step at a time with Mark — Happy, Healthy, Heavy, working together in Harmony.
Plan your beginning
Meet your bees
Prepare for winter
From the apiary
Latest from the Field Journal.
Local pollinators
How to Keep and Manage Mason Bees: A Simple, Local Approach
Nesting tubes, a sheltered morning-sun spot, a mud source and an autumn clean-up: everything a gardener or family needs to host mason bees well.
Local pollinators
Pollination: Why Our Local Pollinators Matter
What pollination really is, why native bees and honey bees work differently, and simple ways to make your yard welcoming to every local pollinator.
What is the 4H Method?
Happy. Healthy. Heavy. Harmony.
4H stands for Happy, Healthy, Heavy and Harmony. It is Mark’s way of natural, treatment-free beekeeping: four guiding principles for understanding bees, caring for them and living more attentively alongside nature.
Pillar I
Happy
Calm colonies. Natural behaviours. Less disturbance, purposeful care.
Pillar II
Healthy
Pollen nourishes growing bees. Sound brood and health checked with care.
Pillar III
Heavy
Keep winter honey and brood-side pollen. Share only honey the bees can spare.
Pillar IV
Harmony
Follow local blooms, pollen and weather. Grow within the land’s limits.
Learn bees. Understand nature. Grow in awareness.
Learn to build your own hive woodware, protect natural comb, collect pollen responsibly, raise queens and keep useful records. Connect these skills with colony nutrition, seasonal growth, winter preparation and personal reflection. Beginners build a foundation; experienced keepers learn to bring the whole apiary together.
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Connect • Explore • Sustain
Find your way into the hive.
$200 · $250 · $350 / year
For your family
Name a hive, enjoy an included two-hour family bee visit with Mark and follow the season. One shared experience, three honey shares. Twelve family hives; interest open through March 2027.
Explore family adoptionCustom partnerships from $1,000
For your business
Multiple hives, employee honey rewards, team learning days or an idea of your own. Meet Mark and shape a partnership together.
Explore business adoptionTwo hours · $25 youth · $35 adults · $75 family
Beekeeping workshops
Two-hour workshops: $25 youth/students, $35 adults, $75 family (up to two adults and two children). An accompanying guardian joins free. Twelve-session passes: $250 youth/students, $350 adults.
See prices & sign upFree online lessons · Visits booked separately
Kids & schools
Learn online for free, visit Mark at the apiary, or invite him to your classroom. Short lessons, real bees and time to explore nature together.
Choose how to learnFree online kids’ lessons →Invite Mark to school →Book a workshop →Meet Mark for a beer or coffee →Land for Bees →
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Honey & handmade salves
A little of the valley to take home.
Raw honey in bare Mason glass, with the story on the lid. Botanical salves made for everyday life outdoors.
All 2026 honey is sold out. The way to reserve 2027 honey is to adopt a family hive — same honey value, plus a season your family shares with the bees.
Keep your jar. Save $2 on a refill.
Refills are also sold out for 2026. Keep your jar for next season’s refill offer. 750 ml Mason Jar (1 kg) refill: $23 · Quart Mason Jar (3 lb) refill: $33.
Save $2 per reused jar. New-jar prices stay the same.
Shieling Farms Botanicals
Wild Healing Salve
Promotes skin repair
A botanical salve from Shieling Farms Botanicals, made with yarrow, plantain and calendula.
$25 CAD2 oz tin · 57 g
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Where I keep bees
One beekeeper. Two BC apiaries.
Princeton–Similkameen
Dry benches, sage, alfalfa and wild clover shape the interior harvest.
Rain Bird Farms · Delta
Farm flowers, gardens and the coastal landscape bring a different season of forage.
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Meet Mark
Thirty years with bees.
Still learning. Still sharing.
I’m Mark Vanderende, Master Beekeeper. Teaching families and the next generation is part of the work, whether we meet at the hive, in a classroom or at a team event. Have fun with your bees.
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Take the story with you.
A short brochure about the bees, the honey and ways to join in.
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