LONDON, Ont. – Billy Bee might be a honey company, but its owners hope to become a lot more than that.
Representatives of the company’s new owners, who relocated the business to London from Toronto last year, are interested in solar energy, beeswax reclamation and biogas production from its honey-laced effluent.
“We’re looking at those things right now,” said Dennis Luc, McCormick Canada’s director engineering and facilities.
“I have a group of engineers looking at whether we could convert our waste effluent into biogas.”
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Luc said there is a cost to getting rid of the effluent, which contains a mixture of water, cleaning agents and honey. With biogas production, electricity could be generated.
Solar-generated electricity also has potential. Ontario Power Generation is now offering as much as 80.2 cents per kilowatt hour.
The beeswax is worth $12 a pound if it can be separated out.
McCormick Canada moved the Billy Bee operation because there was no room for expansion.
The business markets honey, honey mustard and other products under the Billy Bee brand across Canada and under the Doyon brand in Quebec.
Alberta and Saskatchewan produce close to 80 percent of Canada’s honey and are major suppliers.
Yields in the two provinces, especially in the more northerly areas, are greater than most other places in North America.
