Tag Archives: honey

Murray Martin Ramsay Bee Keeper

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The Historical Settlement of Leckie’s Corners FROM MM.ca

In the 1840s, the area in Ramsay Township along the eight line about half a mile west of present day Almonte was a thriving community known as Leckie’s Corners.  Most settlers had made their way from Perth along the Old Perth Road which was little more than a blazed footpath through dense forest. As part of all settlers’ duties, they were required to clear the road along their property which then became the 8th Line.  Settlers were also to build a dwelling within the first 3 years.  The first settlers were John Mitchell Jr and John Mitchell Snr who arrived in 1821.  James Nicholson who arrives in 1822 and Patrick Slatery who followed in 1823.

The Importance of the Eighth Line

In the 1820s, the Eighth Line was the main road connecting Ramsayville or Shipman’s Mills (now Almonte) with Pakenham.  The Ninth Line (now Hwy 29) was only a path.  The road from Morphy’s Falls (present day Carleton Place) to present day Almonte was built by statute labour in 1828.  From Almonte to Pakenham, the road for many years was so bad that it could only be used for hauling supplies in winter. The road ran from Almonte to the Tannery hill on the Eighth Line and along it past the Bennie’s mill on the Indian River to Bennie’s Corners, then across to the Ninth Line at Snedden’s and on to Pakenham. With the Old Perth Road joining the Eighth Line between Lots 14 and 15, it is not difficult to imagine the Eighth Line as a most heavily travelled road.  It was, therefore, only natural that schools, churches, and businesses were built along it.  The present day Wolf Grove Road between Auld Kirk and Union Hall was not opened as a highway until 1967.  Before that time, it was used only as a winter road.

By 1863 the community of Leckie’s Corners was well established. There was a school, a general store, a tannery, a harness shop, a blacksmith shop, a town hall and no less than three churches.

Below is a diagram (not to scale) of the significant places in Leckie’s Corners:

Diagram of significant places along the line at Leckie's Corners
Drawing of Leckie's Corners

                                The Site of Old Town Hall: On this corner where this house stands, the residents of Ramsay Township, who had been holding meetings in the schoolhouse, erected a town hall in 1851 from which to conduct business. In 1916, the building was sold for lumber.

                                The Stepping Place: On the opposite corner where the municipal garage now stands there was a stopping house. This was a place where travelers could spend the night and stable their horses. 

                                Site of the Old Methodist Church: The important of the church in the lives of early settlers is very apparent.  Camp meetings such as the one shown below, met the social and spiritual needs of early Methodist settlers prior to the establishment of church building.  Settlers were also visited by travelling ministers.

A Methodist church house, or meeting house as it was called, was a log structure built about 1835 and as one of the first churches in the area, it was open to all other denominations when not in use by the Methodists.  This church no longer exists

                                The Free Church and Manse: Another of the community’s church built that was built in 1845/46 was known as the Free Church or Canada Presbyterian church.  Land was purchased for a graveyard, church and a manse.  The graveyard proved to be too stony and many bodies were moved to the Auld Kirk cemetery.  The Rev William Mackenzie, father of William Tate Mackenzie was an early minister for the free church.  The manse where he lived is now a private home. Twenty years later, the congregation moved to a new church in Almonte and the building was later purchased by the reformed Presbyterian church.  Their minister Reverend Robert Shields, lived in the Auld Kirk manse with his wife Elizabeth, the hat maker in Leckie’s Corners.  The old church was subsequently sold and became a barn. The following picture shows it in that capacity and the former manse can be seen beside. The church building was later destroyed by fire.

                                The Schoolhouse: ln 1856, a new stone schoolhouse was built next to the tannery. In this picture taken in 1898, the woodshed at the back of the school can be seen.  It was the responsibility of the students to bring the wood in from the woodshed and keep the fire going in the school.  Students also brought water to school from the nearest supply. This school served School Section Number 9 (S.S.#9). One of the early school inspectors was Rev John McMorran who became the minister at the Auld Kirk in 1846. The school was in use until 1970. The school house is now a private home.

                                The Tannery: The Tannery built in 1839 by Thomas Mansell who is listed as its owner in an 1851 Directory of Merchants.  People from all over the area brought their Animal hides to the Tannery to be processed into leather. This involved soaking them in vats with the bark of various tress such as oak or hemlock.  Tanneries were always built by a source of water that could be dammed to create a source of power to grind the bark. In this case, it was built by Woolton Creek. In 1908 it was reconfigured as the Mississippi Pride Cheese factory after fire destroyed the original cheese factory.  In the 1930s it took on a new role as a dance hall for a short period of time.  It had since been restored as a private residence.

                                Robert Drury’s Harness Shop and House: The leather produced at a tannery usually lead to the establishment nearby of enterprises that used leather. Leckie’s Corners boasted both a shoemaker and harness maker, Robert Drury, directly across the road in the 1860s.  Robert Drury was born in Ireland and came to Canada with his mother and sister in 1842.  It is thought that he first that he first owned a harness shop on the second floor of the Tannery. This would have been an ideal location for obtaining hides.  In May 150, he purchased ½ acre of land from Thoams Mansell right across the road form the tannery and built a house and harness shop.  The date that he built them is not known but an 1863 map shows the house and shop.  On 28 June 1861, the following ad appeared in the Almonte Gazette.

In 1866 he moved his enterprise into Almonte.

                                The Mississippi Pride Cheese Factory: The first cheese factory at Leckie’s Corners appears in an 1881 map. The Mississippi Pride Cheese Factory was located up the hill across the road from the tannery. Farmers brought their milk to the cheese factory daily. It was a tremendous blow to local farmers when the factory was destroyed by fire in 1908. The owners immediately made arrangements to set up business in the tannery which had been empty for some time.  Within two days it was functioning as the new cheese factory. The tannery in its new capacity can be seen in the following picture. The large tub at the left side of the building is the whey vat.  After dropping off their milk, the farmers would fill up their empty cans with whey to be used as feed for their livestock.

                                Robert Yule’s Tailor Shop: Another thriving business in Leckie’s Corners was the tailor shop.  Robert Yule was the tailor at Leckie’s Corners.  He was born in Glasgow, Scotland 28 May 1808.  In 1821 he came to Ramsay Township with his parents James Yuill and Barbara Colton. They settled on the east half of Lot 11, Conc 6, Ramsay.  He was one of 10 children.

Robert wen to the village of Lanark, where he served his tailor’s apprenticeship under Finlay McLaren.  There he met McLaren’s niece, Janet, who had also come to learn the trade, and they married.

In 1839 he purchased ¾ acre in the east half of Lot 16, Conc 7 Ramsay, where he built a house with a tailor shop on one end.  The two separate entrances can still be seen. 

Robert was an excellent tailor which can be seen by looking at the beautifully tailored clothing in the photograph of his family.

                                Thomas Leckie’s General Store: The settlement was named for Thomas Leckie, a very enterprising individual. He first shows up in records in 1839 as having a license to sell liquor at his inn, the location of which is not known.  In 1846, he purchased land in Leckie’s Corners and opened a general store which probably looked much like this picture. The building was eventually moved and became a machine shed.  In the same building was a Milliner named Elizabeth Waddell, seen here in one of her delicate creations: (PICTURE)

Her sister Margaret operated a dressmaking business there as well.  Thomas Leckie also had a cabinet making business in Almonte, sold farm equipment and operated a sawmill. Thomas Leckie also became the editor of the Almonte’s first newspaper, The Examiner. He went bankrupt during the depression of 1857 and later in 1861 he and his family emigrated to the US.  This foundation is all that is left of his general store. Leckie’s General Store changed hands many times and in the late 1800s was turned into a carriage shop run by James Scott.  

                                Ruins of Stone House Owned by Slatery and Scotts: James Scott (owner of the carriage shop located in the old Leckie’s general store) and his wife became prominent members of the Leckie’s Corners society. community.  They lived in a beautiful stone house across the road. It was demolished in 1944.  The stone was used in building the retaining wall for what is now known at the Heritage Mall in Almonte. All that remains today are the stones of a crumpling wall.  The house had been previously occupied owned by William Slattery whose blacksmith shop was located in a building behind the house. There was room inside the blacksmith shop for a team of horses.

                                The Old Log Schoolhouse: Another building of importance in a community was the schoolhouse which as located within walking distance of the majority of the people. The first school in Leckie’s Corners was a log structure located at the corner of Gleeson Rd across form Leckie’s General Store.

                                Edward Nicholson’s House: When Ramsay was surveyed, one seventh of the land was set aside for the government and one seventh was also set aside for the Church.  This was called the Clergy Reserve.  And in Ramsay there were two such lots.  It was hoped that as the land became more and more settled, the value of these parcels of land would increase.  These clergy reserves were always a problem for early settlers since nobody lived on these parcels and therefore did not clear the road. One of these parcels was eventually purchased by Edward Nicholson who received his Crown Land Patent in 1855. His house, a log structure, still stands.

Sweetest Man in Lanark County — Harry Toop Honey Maker

The Robbing of the Honey Pot- Andrew Cochrane Ramsay Yuill

Honey and the Andersons of Hopetown

Inside the Old Honey Pot — The Henderson Apiaries Carleton Place

What Was a Honey Wagon?- The Job of a Night Soil Scavenger

Putting Leckie’s Corners Back on the Map — The Buchanan Scrapbook Clippings

Stories of Ramsay Township– Leckies Corner’s – James Templeton Daughter’s 1931

Remembering Leckie’s Corners 1887

Tidbits About Ramsay S.S. #9 The Tannery School

The House on the Hill — Up the 8th Line of Ramsay — Jaan Kolk Files

Some Cold Hard Facts- First Tailor in Ramsay and a Cow Without a Bell

Sweetest Man in Lanark County — Harry Toop Honey Maker

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Sweetest Man in Lanark County — Harry Toop Honey Maker

I found a 4lb Honey Tin
From Harry G Toop
R.R.3 Carleton Place
Adin Daigle

Mr. Harry Toop, well known apiarist, who is now located near Arnprior but who used to reside in Ramsay Township near Carleton Place, was surprised to receive the following letter from a stranger who was travelling to the Old Country aboard the Empress of France:

Dear Mr. Toop, It is a brilliant, sunny, warm day on the mid-Atlantic and just the correct atmosphere for thinking about bees and honey. I have enjoyed your honey so much during this last week that I cannot refrain from commending you. Your honey is used on this ship and its clear, well prepared packaging is a credit to your skill and business methods. The quality of the honey interests me even more. I am perfectly sure that the many passengers who are eating this product are doing so because of this good flavour.

In fact, I have taken the time to ask many of them why they eat it and the answer is the same. “It tastes good and it looks nice.” I am on my way to Britain and Europe to look at the foreign bees and apiaries, not as a scientist or commercial giant, but out of interest alone. My own apiary is at Bobcaygeon, Ont., where I find that flavour and appearance of honey sells more of it than price controls and bargain lots. With a lot of people aboard and all of them looking for something to do, it gives them fun and me too, when I talk of bees and beekeeping. It is astounding to find so many people who have heard little or nothing about honey. I People who have honey to sell | should note this. Good luck to you, sir, I hope you have a bumper season. July 1952 Almonte Gazette

So Harry Toop, renowned beekeeper for the last 62 years, how do those beastly little suckers make honey, anyway? “I could talk about bees all week,” says Mr. Toop, 80, while explaining the parts of a brood box in the wooden shed built onto his 1870s brick farmhouse on the Upper Dwyer Hill Road. “I’m still fascinated with bees. After all this time, I still haven’t learned everything about them yet.”

During the next four hours, he will show you samples of the nasty verroa mite, read pertinent verses from Deuteronomy, retell the biblical story of the prodigal son, inquire about your stance on angels, tell the story of his wife’s passing three year’s ago today, recount his vacation to Seattle, and explain what concession line he grew up on outside Carleton Place.

He will tell you about the man who filled a 70-gallon butter crock full of honey, then cracked it wide open on his trunk latch. “Seventy pounds of honey in his trunk,” says Mr. Toop, releasing a series of high-pitched “hee-hee-hees”. Or the contestant who cheated one year at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto by adding food colouring to darken his amber honey; or how it’s okay to be in a bad mood once in a while. “Even my mother-in-law got in bad humour on a windy day.” Or the guy who filled his expensive beeswax bars with cheaper parafin, wax, in an effort to cheat his dealer.

“Not all the crooks are dead, you know.” Right, so the bee flies up to the flower, Mr. Toop, and then what happens? “Do you remember how the refraction of light works?” And he is off again, demonstrating a device used to measure the moisture content of honey by measuring how the light bends through a drop of the sweet liquid. “Once the queen starts to lay eggs, she never has to be fertilized again,” says Mr. Toop, who once kept a queen bee for five years, which seems an awfully long time for a bug to live.

The queen seems to have something to do with the production of honey, as do other bees called drones and workers. “It’s marvelous. I’m amazed at these bees.” Harry (Honey) Toop, who has five daughters, learned about making honey from his father and grandfather and at one time had 800 hives. The fourth of 10 children, he still remembers the year when he harvested 96,000 pounds of honey, using it to supply more than 60 stores in a circuit around Arnprior.

When he started in the business, honey was selling for nine cents a pound. He still retails a little to his favoured customers, at $1.80 a pound. “In order to be a good beekeeper, you have to think like a bee,” says Mr. Toop, without elaborating on that particular thought process. His main preoccupation now is his beekeeping supply business. In a big workshop about 100 metres from his house, he builds wooden frames, foundation combs, big wooden boxes that house bees during the winter, and other stuff that seems to have something to do with making honey.

We still aren’t sure. – It is clear that Mr. Toop who is as sharp as a bee’s stinger knows everything there is to know about bees and honey. In fact, maybe he knows too much. Which could explain why he has such trouble knowing where to begin answering questions for non-experts. From a little office in the back, he pulls out a brown book with a gold embossed cover that reads All I Know about Beekeeping, By Harry Toop. Finally, we’re getting somewhere. He flips it open and the pages are blank. Mr. Toop is nearly doubled over with laughter. “I got you on that one … hee, hee, hee.”

Mr. Toop built the workshop himself and supplies dozens of products to small beekeepers in the area, ‘ “See that saw over there? I bought it in 1940. I’ve got to show you this.” From a cupboard, he pulls out a saw blade resting in a wooden sleeve and yanks out the end of his tape measure. “Now this blade was 10 inches when I bought it.” It now measures eight and five-eights, the wear caused by thousands of cuts and hundreds of sharpenings.

Mr. Toop, a tall man with blue eyes and neatly combed white hair, has a cross-cut saw on the wall that he remembers felled 2,600 logs one winter. It needs to be sharpened with a special file. “Would you be interested in seeing it?” And off he goes again, seeking out yet another drawer holding a tool wrapped in brown paper. It hardly needs to be said that Mr. Toop loves being a beekeeper, though he admits he is thinking of selling the business because of his advancing years. “A beekeeper has an opportunity to live so close to nature, God’s creation, and you have an opportunity to see so much of what’s happening.”

Alan Fox, 57, a part-time beekeeper from Dacre, stopped in to see Mr. Toop and pick up some supplies jars and things that seemed to have something to do with honey. “He’s been my mentor as far as beekeeping goes,” says Mr. Fox. He said Mr. Toop is well-known in beekeeping circles across Ontario, for longevity and depth of knowledge. Mr. Toop, a one-time farmer who “got busy with bees after I stopped fussing with cows,” was an apiary inspector for the government of Ontario for 40 years and has been a honey judge at fairs all over Ontario. “You have to understand the nature of the bees so you can work co-operatively with them,” says Mr. Toop. As late afternoon approaches, it is time for leave-taking. He was right after all he can talk about bees for a week.

Kely Egan Southam Newspapers

CLIPPED FROMThe Ottawa CitizenOttawa, Ontario, Canada15 Sep 1998, Tue  •  Page 29

I found a 4lb Honey Tin
From Harry G Toop
R.R.3 Carleton Place
Adin Daigle

Perth Courier, Oct. 24, 1884
Mr. Edmund Anderson of Hopetown has obtained from his apiary this year 6,344 pounds of honey, 23 packages of which he has sent to Montreal leaving 18 on hand yet. He has sold a considerable quantity in small lots. He says the “Holy Land” bee has come out over all the others as a producer

Memories of a honey tin by Stuart McIntosh— After the honey was eaten these tin pales often became useful for other things on the farm: a container for milk for the house, for picking berries, etc.

Honey display now on at the Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum

The Robbing of the Honey Pot- Andrew Cochrane Ramsay Yuill

Honey and the Andersons of Hopetown

Inside the Old Honey Pot — The Henderson Apiaries Carleton Place

What Was a Honey Wagon?- The Job of a Night Soil Scavenger

Howard and Olive Giles– Clippings

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Howard and Olive Giles– Clippings
Adin Wesley Daigle Collection

Adin posted the photo of the can in his collection and today I began to put the story together. Give me a name and I will try and find their story..LOLOL

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
09 Sep 1960, Fri  •  Page 2

1997, Wednesday May 7, The Almonte Gazette page B3
Howard P. Giles

A life-long area resident, Howard Giles, passed away peacefully in the Rosamond wing of the Almonte General Hospital April 5, 1997. He was in his 90th year. Born on Sept. 24, 1907, Mr Giles was raised on a farm on the Clayton Road by his parents, the late William Giles and his wife Margaret Pritchard. he received his education at Ramsay S.S. 6 and 7, Almonte High School and Guelph Agricultural College. During his life time, Mr Giles was a beekeeper and operated a honey-making business, was a linesman and installer for Bell Telephone and later, operated a business, Giles Auto Parts, on Mill Street in Almonte. He also served terms as property assessor for Almonte and building inspector for Ramsay Township. Always and active in the community, Mr Giles had particular involvement in the North Lanark Agricultural Society, the Ottawa Winter Fair, Almonte United Church, the Auld Kirk Cemetery Board, Almonte Lions Club, Almonte Business Association, Almonte Credit Union, Almonte Fish And Game Association, Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority, and the Department of Lands and Forests. In later years he particularly enjoyed his involvement with the Renfrew County Old-Time Fiddlers’ Association and various senior citizens’ groups. Mr Giles married the former Olive H. McKay in Arnprior Sept 4, 1935. They resided in homes on Martin Street in Almonte until 30 years ago, when they moved to their home that Mr Giles had built on the Clayton Road. Mr Giles will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by Olive, his wife of 61 years, his children, Beverly (Steve) Summers of Etobicoke, Harold (Rosalyn) Giles of William’s Lake, B.C., David (Diane) Giles of Dorchester, Ont., and Donald (Roxie) Giles of Vancouver, B.C. Also sharing in his loss are nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. A private family funeral service was conducted by Rev Ted Colwell at the Kerry Funeral Home in Almonte April 8, followed by cremation. Interment will take place late in the spring at the Auld Kirk Cemetery.

he Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
22 May 1965, Sat  •  Page 22
The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
07 Jun 1972, Wed  •  Page 5
The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
11 Jun 1942, Thu  •  Page 23
The Windsor Star
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
27 Feb 1959, Fri  •  Page 20
The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
14 Nov 1968, Thu  •  Page 47

GILES, Olive H. (Nov. 23, 1908 – Dec. 19, 2004) Of Almonte Peacefully at Almonte Country Haven, Almonte, Ontario on Sunday, December 19th, 2004 at age 96. Olive H. McKay, beloved wife of the late Howard Giles. Dear mother of Beverley (Mrs. Steve Summers), Forest, Ontario; Harold (Rosalyn) Giles, Williams Lake, BC.; David (Diane) Giles, Dorchester, Ontario and Donald (Roxie) Giles, Vancouver, B.C. Also survived by 9 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. Predeceased by one brother Thomas McKay and by two sisters Laura Baker and Ethel Duncan. Family and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Service in the Kerry Chapel on January 19th, 2005 at 2:00 p.m. with Rev. Barry Goodwin officiatinog. Cremation has taken place. Inurnment at Auld Kirk Cemetery, Almonte with Howard in the Spring. Donations made in memory of Olive to Almonte Country Haven or charity of your choice would be most appreciated by the Giles family.Published on December 21, 2004

Stuart McIntoshHoward and my dad were good friends.. have a good story for you about a hunting trip up the Little Blac Donald. Olive supplied teaching at ADHS when I attended. Sorry to learn of your mom’s passing.

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
22 Sep 1934, Sat  •  Page 20
The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
20 Feb 1959, Fri  •  Page 17
The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
28 Oct 1958, Tue  •  Page 12
The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
22 Aug 1966, Mon  •  Page 18
The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
22 Aug 1966, Mon  •  Page 18

Kim Dean–My mom grew up in Almonte and I have many, many memories from there, have enjoyed following your page for a little while. Mom was known growing up as Beverley Giles, daughter of Howard and Olive. She passed away just about a year ago and in going through her belongings, there is an album with photos she kept from years past before meeting my dad (Allan Valkonen) and marrying. I thought I’d pass along these labelled ones to share if any other family might see here and enjoy. I do have more but will need to decipher the names first, if I can, as they are not so easy to read. Mom is not in these photos but in several of the others…

Karen LloydBob Morton was Stan Morton’s son, and went on to be a highly decorated and highly ranked RCAF officer.

Alan ClouthierI noticed Ken is wearing white buck shoes. The photo from 1957 takes me back to grade school and all the rage at the time was white buck shoes made popular by Pat Boone.

Marilyn Lindhard-Would love to see more pictures of your Mom Bev.I think she and Ann may have been my classmates ,along with Bev Smithson.Marilyn Cox Lindhard.

The Robbing of the Honey Pot- Andrew Cochrane Ramsay Yuill

Honey and the Andersons of Hopetown

Inside the Old Honey Pot — The Henderson Apiaries Carleton Place

The Robbing of the Honey Pot- Andrew Cochrane Ramsay Yuill

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September 1875

At a late hour on Saturday evening last week three young men visited the premises of Mr. A. Cochrane of Ramsay, and carried off three bee-hives full of honey.

They were perceived by a son of Mr. Cochrane, who gave them chase and fired upon them, wounding one it is supposed, and causing them to drop the hives. 

One of the lads also dropped his cap, which was recognised as belonging to a young man in the neighbourhood, and who being accused, the next day, of hijacking the honeypots and fessed up as to being one of the thieves. The other three, fearing arrest, have cleared out for unknown parts it is said.

Bennie’s Corners Squirrel Hunt

A Bennie’s Corners story of 1875 may be recalled as telling of a recognized sport in some circles of the Ottawa Valley of those times, known as a squirrel hunt and featuring a reckless slaughter of the birds and animals of the summer woods.  An Almonte newspaper report told of the hunt on this occasion:

On Friday the 25th instant a squirrel hunt took place at Bennie’s Corners.  Eighteen competitors were chosen on each side, with Messrs. John Snedden and Robert McKenzie acting as captains.  In squirrel hunts, squirrels are not the only animals killed, but every furred and feathered denizen of the forest, each having a certain value attached.  The count runs as follows : squirrel 1, chipmunk 2, wood pecker 2, ground hog 3, crow 3, blackbird 1, skunk 5, fox 50, etc.  At the conclusion of the contest the game killed by both sides amounted to over 2,500.  Mr. James Cochrane bagged 164 squirrels, being the highest individual score, and Mr. Andrew Cochrane came next.  The affair wound up with a dance at the residence of Mr. James Snedden.

Born in Lanark Co., Ontario, Canada on 21 SEP 1848 to Andrew Cochrane and Isabella Erskine. Andrew William Cochrane had 6 children. He passed away on 01 AUG 1940 in Ramsay Twp., Lanark Co., Ontario, Canada.

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The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
31 Aug 1929, Sat  •  Page 8

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The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
27 Sep 1900, Thu  •  Page 3
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The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
28 Jul 1898, Thu  •  Page 2
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The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
22 May 1936, Fri  •  Page 11
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The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
09 May 1936, Sat  •  Page 12

Honey and the Andersons of Hopetown

Inside the Old Honey Pot — The Henderson Apiaries Carleton Place

Honey and the Andersons of Hopetown

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Perth Courier, Oct. 24, 1884

Mr. Edmund Anderson of Hopetown has obtained from his apiary this year 6,344 pounds of honey, 23 packages of which he has sent to Montreal leaving 18 on hand yet.  He has sold a considerable quantity in small lots. He says the “Holy Land” bee has come out over all the others as a producer.

Local Bee Keeper Rescues Swarm of Bees

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Inside the Old Honey Pot — The Henderson Apiaries Carleton Place

 

Five of the Weirdest things about bees..

The Big Buzz at the Carleton Place Farmer’s Market — Get Bee-autiful!

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Not only is Dunlop’s Honey a producer and supplier of local container honey, and bulk Honey– they are bee—ing very creative these days selling  100% Beeswax Candles, soap, chocolate, and you name it. They also have something that women are getting on the bandwagon for now all over the world called Bee Cream.

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After 12 years of research, Korean Doctors are now sharing their knowledge of the power of bees and face care loved by Victoria Beckham, Kylie Minogue and Michelle Pfeiffer. You don’t have to travel outside of Carleton Place to find it now. Dunlop’s Honey has it each week at the Carleton Place Farmer’s Market for a fraction of the price.

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Scott Dunlop isn’t going to sell anything he does stand bee-hind, and tells me that it is amazing for the face improving skin tone and elasticity. Some even say it cures psoriasis. Bees are already responsible for other supposedly anti-ageing products from honey to royal jelly, a health supplement used by many celebrities.  It is also available at The Granary and Apple Cheeks Consignment in Carleton Place– and they it all year round too!

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Of course they now say that life without bees is life without chocolate. That’s right– Dunlop’s Honey carries Chocolate made from honey. No matter how you look at it– they have some sweet ideas all around!

Fact- Pollinators like bees bring us 75 per cent of the food we eat — including apples, chocolate, coffee and almonds. Without pollinators, we’d be stuck eating only wind-pollinated crops like wheat and corn.

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HONEY BEE CAKE by Nigella Lawson

honey

Ingredients
Cake:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
1 1/3 cups soft light brown sugar
2 sticks soft butter
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda (baking soda)
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 cup boiling water
Sticky Honey Glaze:
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup honey
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Bees:
1 ounce yellow marzipan
12 flaked almonds
Special equipment: 9-inch springform tin
Directions
Take whatever you need out of the refrigerator so that all ingredients can come to room temperature, and while that’s happening, melt the chocolate from the cake part of the ingredients list in a good-sized bowl, either in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool slightly.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and butter and line a 9-inch springform tin.

Beat together the sugar and soft butter until airy and creamy, and then add the honey.

Add 1 of the eggs, beating it in with a tablespoon of the flour, and then the other egg with another tablespoon of flour. Fold in the melted chocolate, and then the rest of the flour and baking soda. Add the cocoa pushed through a tea strainer to ensure you have no lumps, and last of all, beat in the boiling water. Mix everything well to make a smooth batter and pour into the prepared tin. Cook for up to 1 1/2 hours, though check the cake after 45 minutes and if it is getting too dark, cover the top lightly with aluminium foil and keep checking every 15 minutes.

Let the cake cool completely in the tin on a rack.

To make the glaze, bring the water and honey to a boil in a saucepan, then turn off the heat and add the finely chopped chocolate, swirling it around to melt in the hot liquid. Leave it for a few minutes, then whisk together. Add the sugar through a sieve and whisk again until smooth.

Choose your plate or stand, and cut out 4 strips of baking paper and form a square outline on the plate. This is so that when you sit the cake on and ice it, the icing will not run out all over the plate. Unclip the tin and set the thoroughly cooled cake on the prepared plate. Pour the glaze over the cold honey bee cake; it might dribble a bit down the edges, but don’t worry too much about that. The glaze stays tacky for ages (this is what gives it its lovely melting gooiness) so ice in time for the glaze to harden a little, say at least an hour before you want to serve it. Keep the pan of glaze, (don’t wash it up), as you will need it to make the stripes on the bees.

Divide the marzipan into 6 even pieces and shape them into fat, sausage-like bees’ bodies, slightly tapered at the ends.

Using a wooden skewer, paint stripes with the sticky honey glaze left in the pan from icing the cake. About 3 stripes look best, and then very carefully attach the flaked almonds at an angle to make the bees’ wings, 2 on each one. They might snap as you dig them into the marzipan bodies, so have some spare. I’m afraid to admit, I also like to give them eyes by dipping the point of the skewer in the glaze and thence on the bees: they look more loveable with an expression, which is somehow what the eyes give them, but then this is where the Disney effect comes in. If a more imperial dignity is required, forgo the dotting of the eyes and present this as your Napoleonic Chocolate Cake.

Carleton Place Farmer’s Market

7 Beckwith St.
Carleton Place, Ontario
 
(613) 809-0660

830 am to 1230 am

Carleton Place Farmer’s Market Re-Invents the McGriddle

Are You Stuck in a Vegetable Rut? The Carleton Place Farmer’s Market

Before and After Swagger Snacks from The Carleton Place Farmer’s Market

It’s Strawberry Time at The Farmer’s Market

A Fiesta in the Strawberry Patch at the Carleton Place Farmer’s Market

Baby, I’m a Wantin’ Some Brown Dog Bakery — Carleton Place Farmer’s Market

A Fiesta in the Strawberry Patch at the Carleton Place Farmer’s Market

Visit the Drama Free Zone Wall at The Carleton Place Farmer’s Market

Where to Go When You Don’t Have a Green Thumb — Two Fields Over at the Carleton Place Farmer’s Market

Put Your Chutney Where Your Mouth Is! — Carleton Place Farmers Market

Missy Moo’s Magical Hand Cream – Carleton Place Farmer’s Market

Inside the Old Honey Pot — The Henderson Apiaries Carleton Place

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Photos of the old Henderson Apiary. Once upon a time the building was closed forever, and the building sat neglected on the most prestigious street in town– High Street. It is no longer there, and now just a memory.

What is an apiary?  An apiary (also known as a bee yard) is a place where honey bees are kept. Traditionally beekeepers (also known as apiarists) paid land rent in honey for the use of small parcels. Some farmers will provide free apiary sites, because they need pollination, and farmers who need many hives often pay for them to be moved to the crops when they bloom. 

Photos from an Anonymous Photographer from years gone by. 

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Time Waits for No Man 1965

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The building was for sale for $220,000, but it was always zoned residential.

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comments

Hi Linda. Saw your photos of Henderson Apiaries. I worked as a beekeeper for Cecil and Kay Henderson in 1965. My package included room and board in their home next door (it was also a Guest House for overnight visitors but not a B&B, just accommodation). Photos brought back memories! thanks–Mark Hopkins

July-August 1952

My Food Love Affair with Dave Nichols – Zoomer

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My Food Love Affair with Dave Nichols – Zoomer.