It all started when Jerry Awram became interested in bees through the father of a school friend, causing him to study apiculture. After finishing his B. Sc. and M. Sc. degrees, Jerry went to the U.K. to study bumble bees, and obtained his PhD in 1970. Then, he accepted the job of Provincial Apiculturist for Alberta and began keeping bees on the side. After resigning from this position in 1973, he and his wife Pia ran their beekeeping business full time along with raising their growing family.
In 1985, after experimenting with new techniques for wintering bees, Jerry moved his entire family and beekeeping operation to the Lower Mainland where the milder winters were better for the bees. Since then, the business has expanded dramatically and has truly become a family enterprise with all three of Jerry and Pia‚Äôs sons, Peter, Tom and David becoming part of the honey business.
Jerry has always been keenly interested in the improvement and promotion of apiculture and has taken an active interest in the beekeeping community. He has been the president of the Alberta Honey Producers Cooperative of Alberta, Vice-President of BeeMaid Honey and President of the Canadian Honey Council. He has spoken on TV and been quoted in newspapers regarding bees. In fact the entire family and business has been featured on the children‚Äôs TV program ‚ÄúHarriet‚Äôs Magic Hats‚Äù. In addition Honeyview Farm has been featured in a number of news articles and interviews in newspapers and on TV throughout the years.
After many years in the bee business, Jerry realized that sustainable beekeeping was the future. Instead of killing off the bees at the end of each summer after the honey crop and importing new bees from the United States every spring, beekeepers needed to learn how to keep the beehives alive through the winter. Jerry was one of the first beekeepers to start experimenting in these methods and as a result moved his entire family and beekeeping operation to the Lower Mainland from the Peace River area of Alberta where the milder winters were better for the bees.