Adopt a real hive at one of our partner apiaries across Canada and give its queen the name of someone you love. Her colony’s honey arrives in December, and again after the summer harvest.
Certificate by email as soon as you order. Order by [DATE] and the honey arrives before Christmas.
Illustration of a wooden beehive with a brass plaque bearing the queen’s name.
The name goes on the hive plaque and the certificate. If the colony ever raises a new queen, she inherits it. How that works
One gift that comes back twice, from a colony you can watch.
Pick a region from coast to coast, then share a hive, give a whole hive, or taste three regions side by side.
Her name goes on the hive plaque and on a certificate we email the moment you order, ready to print for Christmas morning.
A gift box in December, a harvest box after the summer, and a live camera to watch the bees in between.
Our partner beekeepers keep hives from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Each honey tastes of its own flowers. Pick the region closest to the person you’re giving to, or the honey you’d most like to taste.
Pre-order: you pay today, and we reserve your hive for this season.
Your hive will be at your chosen apiary. Change apiary
A share of a hive, with their name on the certificate
$79 CAD
A full hive whose queen carries the name you choose, on a brass plaque
$199 CAD
A share of a hive in 3 regions, to taste side by side
$149 CAD
Buying for a team? From $59 per person, minimum 10 gifts, with a camera wall for your office. Request a quote
Every adopter gets a My Hive page with a live camera, the queen’s name, a season timeline and the beekeeper’s journal. Here are two of our apiaries right now.
See an example My Hive page Weather from Open-Meteo. Bee activity is an estimate based on temperature, rain, season and daylight.
Everything in the box comes from the apiary you choose. The honey is graded Canada No. 1, and its taste depends on the flowers that grow in that region.
box-raw-honey.jpg
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box-hive-plaque.jpgEvery jar carries a QR code that opens its apiary and its camera. Depending on supply, a beeswax food wrap may replace the candle.
beekeeper.jpgJulien Lavoie, Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs, QC
Each partner beekeeper opens every hive about every ten days from May to August, keeps notes on each colony, and only takes the honey the bees can spare. In the fall they check the reserves and prepare the hives for winter.
Each apiary has its own beekeeper. Choose another region to meet them.
Give employees and clients a gift they will actually open: a hive adopted in your company's name, and a honey box for each person.
From $59 per person, minimum 10
teams-box.jpgJars and extras on their own, without adopting a hive.
The December box ships the first week of December for every order placed by [DATE], so it arrives before Christmas. The harvest box ships after the summer honey flow, in late August 2027. The certificate arrives by email as soon as you pay.
Right away. As soon as the payment goes through, we email you the certificate as a PDF to print or forward, even on December 24 at night. For a gift, you also choose the day the recipient gets their “Meet your bees” email.
Yes. Every adoption is tied to a living colony at the apiary you choose, kept by that region's partner beekeeper. A Queen's Hive is a full hive with the queen's name on a plaque. Worker Bee adopters share a hive with other adopters and receive a photo of it.
A colony sometimes raises a new queen on its own, for example when the old one ages, or when part of the colony swarms. When that happens, the new queen inherits the name you chose, the plaque stays the same, and the beekeeper tells you in the season journal. Long live the queen.
The person named on the certificate. For a gift, that's the recipient: the My Hive page, the camera and the Queen's Hive visit are theirs, for themselves and a guest of their choice. You can ask for a copy of everything they receive.
Yes. Every adopter gets a My Hive page with their apiary's live camera, the queen's name, a season timeline and the beekeeper's journal. The Queen's Hive adds a camera on their own hive. At night, and while the colony is clustered for winter, the page tells you what the bees are up to instead.
Yes. Bees make honey from whatever blooms nearby, so blueberry-blossom honey from Lac-Saint-Jean tastes nothing like canola honey from the Peace River. That’s the whole idea behind Taste of Canada.
The Queen's Hive includes a reserved visit for the person on the certificate and a guest, at their apiary's open day in July. Other adopters can join if spots remain. If weather or bee safety forces us to cancel, we offer another date, or a filmed hive opening if no date works.
Honey bees don't hibernate. In winter the colony forms a tight cluster around the queen and keeps warm by shivering its flight muscles, living on the honey it stored over the summer. In October, our beekeepers check each colony's honey stores, feed the lighter ones, narrow the entrances and protect the hives from the cold until spring. On the camera, expect a very quiet entrance all winter: that's normal.
Yes. Before the season starts, the My Hive page offers one-click renewal: same hive, same queen name.
It opens the page of the apiary your honey comes from, with its live camera.
Within Canada only. We deliver to all ten provinces; for the territories, write to us first. Shipping is included in the price. Each box is shipped once in December and once after the harvest.
Yes. When you pre-order, tick “This is a gift”: you can add a message, their email and the day it should reach them, and have the honey shipped straight to them. The message is also printed on a card in the December box.
If a jar arrives broken, email a photo to bonjour@borealhive.ca within 7 days and we'll send a replacement. You can cancel your pre-order for a full refund until November 30. If we can't fulfil your order for any reason, we refund you in full.
No. Don't give honey to babies under 12 months old, including raw honey, pasteurized honey or food made with honey. It can cause infant botulism. Honey is safe from the first birthday on.
Honey, honeycomb and beeswax are bee products and may contain pollen. If you are allergic to bee products or pollen, talk to your doctor first. Our infused honeys contain only honey and cinnamon or chili pepper. For full ingredient and allergen details, write to us before ordering.