Robert Bell's

Wines of Canada

Since 1992

Prairie Bee Meadery

 

Located in beautiful Saskatchewan county side 19km west of Moose Jaw SK and 10km south of Caron SK. The meadery is owned by two couples Dennis and Vickie Derksen,Crystal and Gerard Milburn. They have a store location in Moose Jaw. Originally, Dennis and Vickie retired and purchased a farm just outside of Moose Jaw. Then Crystal and Gerard came along and offered to help a little with weeding, and suddenly turned into a business.

Prairie Bee is Saskatchewan's first craft meadery. They make small batches of mead, many of which include locally grown fruits such as cherry, melon, strawberry, raspberry and haskap.

Prairie Bee Meadery

 

The farm is located about 20 Km west of Moose Jaw . Once you leave the town you are now on a gravel road.

Their history began with Grandpa's Garden Ltd is a u-pick operation that happened entirely by accident. "It began with a small sour-cherry orchard, as a retirement project for Dennis and Vickie Derksen. Within a year, ambitions had expanded to include a one acre high tunnel growing strawberries. When we found that we couldn't pick them all, we opened up to the public, allowing others to come and pick our berries. Vickie's daughter Crystal, and her husband Gerard, came on as partners, and the u-pick grew to include over 5 acres of raspberries, more strawberries, a small haskap orchard, and several vegetable gardens. Honey bees were introduced to the operation to ensure successful fruiting of the various food plants, and soon we were also selling honey, and making mead at home. Our fruit honey product was developed with the assistance of the Food Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, and as a (possibly) final step, we expanded in the latter half of 2015 to begin making mead commercially. Prairie Bee Meadery at Grandpa's Garden officially opened on June 18th, 2016."

Choosing a name for our Meadery took a lot of time, consideration and argument! We wanted our name to pay homage in some way to the region in which we are located. At length, we chose Prairie Bee because it also let us credit the miraculous and hard-working honey bee, without whom we would have no berries, no honey, and no mead.

Prairie Bee Meadery recently moved its retail store to the Grant Hotel
Prairie Bee Meadery recently moved its retail store to the Grant Hotel

Prairie Bee Meadery has entered into the Drink Outside the Grape competition for three straight years and won a medal each time. Dominic Rivard is the consultant.

 

Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province. Moose Jaw is an industrial centre and important railway junction for the area's agricultural produce. CFB Moose Jaw is a NATO flight training school, and is home to the Snowbirds, Canada's military aerobatic air show flight demonstration team. The Grant Hall Boutique Hotel in downtown Moose Jaw, SK has been restored to its 1927 splendour. 

Moose Jaw is also home to the historical Moose Jaw Tunnels. It is not know exactly what the original use of these these tunnels was. When Prohibition hit in the 1920s, the tunnels had a new purpose. Rumrunners used them to store alcohol and covertly transport it to the Soo Line Railroad, on which the liquor would be snuck into the U.S. Eventually there were even functioning speakeasies underneath the streets of Moose Jaw in addition  Ever since, there have been rumours that Al Capone was involved in the bootlegging industry in Moose Jaw and even lived there briefly to avoid the feds, though only anecdotal evidence exists.

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Welcome to Robert Bell's Winesofcanada.com ! This is a personal website. We do not represent the wine industry or any aspect of the Canadian Government. We have been promoting Canada's wines and wineries since 1992. We do not sell or purchase any products. Please enjoy the website. Your comments are welcome.

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