About Us
Humble Bee was founded by Luc Peters in 2013. We are primarily urban beekeepers, managing hundreds of hives at over 30 locations in the greater Hamilton area, including the Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton Port Authority, McMaster University and roof top hives at the Cotton Factory.
Humble Bee is a full service apiary that supports ALL beekeepers new and established alike. We focus on urban honey production, education, equipment sales, queen breeding, bee colony(Nucs) sales and supplying our local community with honey and wax products. Humble Bee was awarded a First Ontario Business Award in 2018.
Humble Bee’s philosophy is to put the needs of the bees first, with the understanding that maintaining healthy, thriving colonies is in the best interests of both the bees and the beekeeper. Our colonies are managed without the use of antibiotics or synthetic miticides, and they select for gentle, disease-resistant and hygienic stock.
Humble Bee’s primary goal in beekeeping education is to teach students how to ‘read’ a beehive. They believe the bees will tell you everything you need to know; you just need to learn how to listen. Humble Bee will teach you how to ‘listen’ with all of your senses, and how to manage your colonies by learning to anticipate how the bees will respond to your management decisions.
With over 20 years of experience, Humble Bee can help you achieve all your beekeeping goals.
Luc Peters
Founder and owner of Humble Bee.
In 2010, Luc was employed for an industrial beekeeping operation focused on pollination contracts and honey production. After gaining several years experience it became clear that beekeeping was something Luc wanted to pursue long term, however in a more sustainable way than his experiences with industrial beekeeping had taught him. Luc started the urban bee farm Humble Bee in 2013
Luc has always been interested in environmental issues and has been a member of Environment Hamilton and the Golden Horseshoe Beekeeper’s Association since 2010. He has also been a member of the Ontario Beekeeper’s Association since 2014. Luc is passionate about not just honey bees but about native bees and pollinators in general. He is also interested in local, organic, and sustainable farming.
In 2018, Luc was awarded a Business Link Media Group ’40 Under 40 Business Achievement Award’.