World's travelling beekeepers settle on PEI

To describe the path that took Mickael and Jennifer Jauneau to the shores of PEI as “circular” would have to be an understatement.

Before settling in the farming and fishing community that lends its name to their sweet treats, the owners of Canoe Cove Honey wrote a love story that included stops on three continents and a dramatic change in careers for them both.

“We both like to travel and that is a good thing or we never would have met,” jokes Mickael.

Trained as a mechanic in his native France, he decided after a few years on the job that it was time to see the world. Meanwhile, in Vancouver, his future wife came to a similar conclusion and put her career as a human resources professional on hold.

To pay for their adventures, they both took jobs along the way—a number of them working for farmers in need of extra labour. While the Loire Valley where he grew up is predominately rural, Mickael had never tried farming prior to setting off to see the world. As for Jennifer, farming isn’t top of mind as a career choice when you grow up in a large city.

Their paths crossed while working on a pepper farm in Australia. They married in France in 2013 and in lieu of a honeymoon took a working vacation to New Zealand. That proved to be where bees entered the picture.

Mickael and Jennifer Jauneau of Canoe Cove Honey, with some of their products.

The couple were working on a bee farm that also grew asparagus. Just prior to their arrival, a worker that had been looking after the bees quit, leaving an opportunity. Mickael had been thinking asparagus but he was soon to help out with the bee side of the operation. Considering that has become his career, many readers may be thinking he took to the challenge like a honeybee to a flower.

 You would be wrong.

In fact, Mickael initially turned the offer down, but Jennifer persuaded him to try it for at least a week.

“I still wasn’t keen after the first week, but Jennifer persuaded me to keep going for a few more days,” he recalls. Those days now keep multiplying as he caught what he calls the “beekeeper’s disease.” For the next five years, the couple travelled between France (where their now four-year-old son Thomas was born) and New Zealand. All the while, Mickael kept learning everything he could about bees and beekeeping in the hopes of someday owning his own apiary.

Jennifer notes they also wanted to be closer to both sets of grandparents—a tall order when you are talking two continents. She jokes, “It’s about equidistant now to either grandparent, in terms of flying time.”

In early 2018, they spotted an ad for a beekeeping operation they thought might fit the bill. Daniel and Beatrice Fizca were selling the Canoe Cove operation they had founded in 2000. Mickael and his father-in law came to PEI to check it out. He loved the operation and the community immediately but, since it was March, he wasn’t sure what to make of an Island winter.

“I was in New Zealand and when he would describe the weather to me, I was getting less and less excited about the idea,” Jennifer says.

Keep in mind a really, really cold day in the middle of a New Zealand “winter” is seven degrees. When she arrived in PEI with two-year-old Thomas, she admits, “I really didn’t know what to expect. It was June then, so things were looking a little brighter and the people were so friendly.”

Photography by: Brian McInnis

They began their operation two years ago with 200 hives, each containing approximately 70,000 bees. Since then, they have expanded to 270 hives but they collectively answered a quick “no” to the question of a further expansion of their hives. Mickael explains, “We could manage maybe another 20 to 25 hives by ourselves and after that would have to start hiring help.”

Jennifer adds, “That is not something that interests us right now.”

The couple rents out their hives for pollination of blueberries and cranberries in June and Mickael says few people outside the industry realize just how much work that entails. The farm sells two kinds of honey—wildflower and blueberry—and Jennifer explains they have distinctly different tastes since the blueberry comes later in the season. The couple also sells 100 per cent beeswax candles, soap, skin cream, and lip balm. The skin cream is made from propolis—a resin collected by the bees from tree buds used to repair their hives—that Jennifer notes is particularly effective on dry skin and eczema.

Photography by: Brian McInnis

While many of us have a healthy fear of honeybees, the Jauneaus say they are largely peaceful animals to work with. In fact, Jennifer says Thomas and his 18 month-old sister, Carmen, have to be reminded sometimes to treat the bees with a degree of caution.

Beekeeping is largely the same business worldwide, but one adjustment Mickael did have to make was helping to ensure his bees survived the winter. Jennifer said the question of “what happens to the bees when the snow flies?” is one asked by almost every visitor to the farm.

Most growers keep their bees outside in an area as sheltered from the elements as possible. Mickael explains that a more severe winter usually leads to a higher mortality rate, not to mention extra expense for the growers as those bees have to be replaced the
following spring.

“Last winter was great,” he says. “Our [honeybee] mortality was around seven or eight per cent. We have our fingers crossed for this year.”

Like virtually every other enterprise in Atlantic Canada, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the couple’s business formula at least in the short term. They sell products at a roadside stand at the end of their lane and Jennifer says, “That is where we get most of the tourist traffic,” adding many tourists stop and get their picture taken next to the stand.

Like most roadside operations  across the region, theirs operates on the honour system, something Mickael admits took getting used to.

They also sell at the Charlottetown Farmers Market—which was closed for several months at the start of the pandemic and then moved outside during the summer—as well as online.

Photography by Brian McInnis - Along with honey, Jennifer and Mickael sell a variety of skin care products featuring honey, beeswax and propolis. 

Jennifer says the apiary’s online business has grown since the start of the pandemic and Mickael adds he has also noticed customers purchasing larger quantities of products. They sell the honey in various sizes ranging from 150 grams to three kilograms and the latter has taken off since March.

That increase in sales has spurred them to renovate the apiary building to allow them to offer products for sale through a drive-through window, thus ensuring the safety of both them and their customers; so consumers can
stop by and pick up some unique Christmas gifts.

They take part every year in Farm Day in the City (an open-air market held on Queen Street in Charlottetown in early October as part of the Fall Flavours festival) as well as a Christmas market held in early December on the same site.

“Both of those events have been big sellers for us, and we are trying to look at other ways to reach customers,” Jennifer says.

They both believe strongly in teaching current and potential customers more about where their food comes from. Prior to COVID-19, they had been holding Sunday tours throughout the summer for anyone wanting to learning more about beekeeping.

They have also hosted school tours and a summer camp and have participated twice in Open Farm Day. As parents of young children themselves, they especially like to see young families visit the farm and they are more than willing to take the time to explain what they do.

Mickael says he is already getting calls from schools and other groups hoping to visit the apiary and they will do their best to accommodate these requests, while respecting the physical distancing guidelines put into place by the Public Health Office.

He has been able to put his mechanical training to good use, as he has designed and built some of the equipment used in the apiary.

Down the road, they would also like to raise some chickens and grow some of their own produce.

The couple didn’t hesitate for a second when asked if they have any regrets about their decision to move to the other side of the world. Jennifer says people have been so welcoming and friendly and the size of the operation suits them well.

“This is the lifestyle we always wanted for our kids,” Jennifer says with a warm smile.

Her husband nods his agreement.

“We love it here,” he says simply.