Pet and Bee Veterinary Services Ltd.

In 1995 Ben Poltorak was a big kid for his age and when a commercial beekeeper moved in next door he became a convenient source of inexpensive labor. Bee experience and knowledge was exchanged for slinging honey and making hive inspections before he could legally drive; it was a simple way of life. His natural curiosity grew and he soon ended up with a few hives of his own, at first in an urban setting where his additional pollination effort resulted in localized crabapple crops so profound the branches began to break under the load!  Later on, expansion room was found at a rural bee yard established at the family recreation property.  Once Ben caught the buzz for beekeeping it didn’t stop there - his school science fair projects were always inundated with bees, and school presentations often included a home-made observation hive. Of course, to the dismay of his audience, one or two bees found a small escape path, resulting in a major junior high kafuffle! Sans observation hive, his projects were always well received by the judges sending him to provincial science competitions twice. In the 90’s the honey-flows were profound, the varroa mite had not reached the remote bee-yards of west central Alberta, and beekeeping was easy with American and European foul brood being the main hive health concerns of the day.

The turn of the century saw Ben’s commercial beekeeper friend/mentor retire and Ben continued his education in the sciences and engineering fields. Since the age of ten, beekeeping has been a part of his life as the bees followed him wherever he continued his academic studies including Edmonton, Alberta, Fredericton New Brunswick, and Calgary, Alberta. In Edmonton, during his undergrad years Ben met his soon to be wife, the daughter of a world-renowned professor and Entomologist, which led to interesting dinner conversation and discussion of bee taxonomy, physiology and hive management. It was a requirement of the forestry program to take the professor’s notoriously challenging entomology course and dating his daughter was a sure fire way to an A grade! In Fredericton, Ben kept bees with a long-time journalist and former CBC radio host where the bears were often the bane of their existence. Hive health concerns were more advanced in eastern Canada as beekeepers had been operating with varroa for 20 or so years and the small hive beetle was a stone throw away at the American/Canadian border. In pursuit of higher education and a career in the environmental services industry, the bees followed Ben and Eiry to Calgary where they experienced beekeeping in southern Alberta and the warm benefits of midwinter chinooks. Fast forward to today, Ben manages a small apiary where hive health continues to be his focus. After being in the apiculture industry from coast to coast for more than 29 years, Ben is confident in his ability to offer quality hive health and native pollinator services to fellow Albertans.