A local beekeeper is creating a buzz in apiculture in the Creston Valley.
Jeff Lee, co-owner of Honey Bee Zen Apiaries and Swan Valley Honey, has been announced as a Leadership Award finalist in the 2024 BC Food and Beverage Rise Awards.
The award celebrates a seasoned leader in the food and beverage sector who inspires, mentors, and promotes diversity while embodying integrity and respect. Lee was nominated as an award-winning honey producer, advocate for BC’s honey industry and food producers, and devoted activist.
Lee and his wife Amanda co-own the operation, as the largest local producers of raw honey in southeastern B.C. From beekeeping to operating a CFIA-licenced food processing facility in Creston to marketing and distribution, the couple is in charge of every aspect of bringing honey from hive to home.
Lee has been a long-time executive member of the BC Honey Producers Association and is the provincial director of the Canadian Honey Council. He is also chair of Fields Forward Society, which operates the Kootenay Farms Food Hub and Innovation Centre and assists local farmers and producers in creating value-added products to enhance local food security.
As an activist, Lee took on the mission of resettling Ukrainian beekeepers in B.C. for both humanitarian reasons and to support the local labour force. Since 2022, he has helped five families relocate to Creston and his company employs three full-time Ukrainian beekeepers and food processors, including Andrii and Khrystyna Kos.
“The night we were to leave for Canada we lay awake wondering what kind of people Jeff and Amanda were,” said Andrii Kos, who has been a beekeeper at Honey Bee Zen since 2023. “We wanted peace and security and good jobs but didn’t know anything about these people. I found out later that they had laid awake that night too, wondering about us.”
Lee also helped with the reunification of their extended family, which had been separated and scattered over three countries. He followed through by obtaining food store jobs for four of them.
“I can’t even begin to explain how much Jeff has impacted our lives,” said Khrystyna, who assists with production and administration. “He has provided us with a safe home and meaningful careers in our area of expertise - beekeeping and food production. He continues to guide, support and inspire us.”
The 17th annual BC Food and Beverage Rise Awards will choose the winners through a public vote between Sept. 9 and 30. Lee is one of three finalists for the Leadership Award. The winner will be announced on Nov. 28 at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster, B.C. Visit bcfb.ca/rise-awards to vote online.
