A century of sweetness on display.

A century of sweetness made a buzz this weekend as Chatsworth Honey celebrated 100 years of beekeeping by hosting the Bee Olympics, followed by a barbeque dinner and live music on a beautiful late summer evening.

More than 50 honeyed professionals and friends gathered at the Chatsworth facility on Highway 10 in the south end of town Saturday, Sept. 16.

They were joined by current owners and beekeepers Les Eccles and Raquel Mijares González, their treasured staff, previous owners Toby Bruce and Kelly Rogers – and a couple of generations of the Bryans family, who began their Chatsworth Honey beekeeping operation in 1923 and managed it until 1987.

A stroll through the Highway 10 property leads to the site of the Bee Olympics.

The hive tool is as essential for beekeepers as the veil and smoker, although it's not often used to burst balloons fixed to an empty hive box metres away.

Just about anyone can throw a hive tool, but this competition is for the professionals: On your mark, get set to stuff ten ouchie-producing-capable attendant bees into a "box" the size of your thumb – and GO!

Is the Bee Olympics switching back to another amateur-friendly competition? Don't bet the honey jar! Even seasoned pros can have problems getting their smoker going, never mind letting it sit for a half hour before the smoke-producing finale of the event produces a winner.

News photography can be a risky occupation – and covering the Bee Spitting competition in the Bee Olympics must rate high on the risk list, alleges our Hub staffer.

Although equipped with decades of experience and thoroughly modern equipment, our Hub staffer was unable to photograph the winning spits. He was barely able to capture this somewhat less-successful attempt before the trajectory of the fierce – and no doubt quite angry – bee forced him to scramble for cover, screaming like a little boy.

A half-century of sweetness on display.

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– by Hub staff
David Galway