Beekeeper urges farmers to talk about their mental health

“I had experienced, for the last four years, low commodity prices, a lot of hive loss and trying to keep the hive numbers up,” Hill told farmnewsNOW. “We weren’t producing much honey either. There were a lot of weather-related issues.”

Beekeepers across the prairies have not been able to keep up with the cost of production. Hill said with a few years of really low prices they were just getting by.

“Beekeepers in western Canada, it really affected them badly but in the two years of 2019 and 2020 I had the two smallest crops I’ve ever seen per hive,” he said.

To add to the stress, Hill lost the winter employment in Alberta that he counted on to keep his bee business going.

“I guess it would be the fall of 2019 work in the in the oil patch was gone. For probably 12 or 13 years that (employment) was holding everything together. The company suddenly was dissolved, and I lost the job that would normally would be keeping things balanced.”

The added stress of his family living several hours away Hill said he started having suicidal thoughts.

“It’s just years and years of stress. That’s when it kind of got to me. Years and years of just wondering what are we going to do now and then losing the winter job that was holding everything together,” he said.

Hill is not alone. Saskatchewan Mobile Crisis Services which manages the Farm Stress Line reported an increase in calls in 2020. Acting Executive Director Jan Thorson said the pandemic was at least partly responsible for that but depression, isolation addictions and family disputes can happen throughout the year.

Knowing he had to make a change, Hill started sharing his thoughts in a blog and credits that process to his recovery.

“That’s how it started. I felt like I needed to write it down as a way to get rid of it or in a way, almost say it out loud and feel like I spoke up about it,” he said.

Hill said discussing mental health in the farming industry is important.

“The amount of stress involved farmers are really susceptible to this happening. Not only that, but we are also a little bit isolated because there’s a lot of times we’re doing this on our own,” Hill said. “It is important to reach out at those times. We’re stuck looking at televisions and I think that’s part of the reason that we’re not connecting or these feelings kind of persist because we just don’t go and talk to others.”

Hill said he has been touched by the number of people that have reached out to him after writing his blog.

“I wrote just a little thing on social media and it blew up again. Especially the private messages I received that made me realize I need to tell people how I feel and as the saying goes, ‘It’s okay to be not okay’.

In addition to honey production Sweet Pure Honey has put more emphasis on the value-added side of the business.

Hill said he wants Canadian bee farmers to be paid a fair price their crops. When people ask him how they can help he said support your local farmers.

“Be a conscious consumer and read the label on your honey container and find out where the honey is sourced. Every time you buy direct from a Canadian farmer that money supports their farm,” he said.

Sweet Pure Honey had created the Invest a Hive gift bag which contains raw white honey, bees wax lip balm, bees wax cream soap, and a tea light candle. The Invest a Hive box contains honey cinnamon spread, body balm, honey cream, beeswax, tea lights and lip balms. Sales from the online market go directly towards supporting the new hives each spring. Sweet Pure Honey also donates 10 per cent of their sales to Northeast Outreach.

You can follow @smokeybeekeeper on Instagram and Facebook.

If you or anyone you know is in need of support contact the Farm Stress Line at 1-800-667-4442. The free and confidential service is available
24 hours per day seven days per week.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW

by Alice McFarlane

Beekeeper urges farmers to talk about their mental health

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