Billy Bee® crowns Regina, Saskatchewan Canada’s Sweetest Town
17 August 2017 |
Billy Bee® crowns Regina, Saskatchewan Canada’s Sweetest Town
After identifying five similarities between Canadians and honey bees, Canada’s number one honey brand concludes search for Canada’s Sweetest Town
LONDON, ON (September 19, 2017)—Today, Billy Bee®, Canada’s number one honey brand, named Regina, Saskatchewan Canada’s Sweetest Town. Upon discovering five similar sweet behaviours (or “bee-haviours”) between honey bees and Canadians earlier this summer, Billy Bee set out to determine which town best exemplifies these similarities. To celebrate Regina’s sweetness, Billy Bee is making a $10,000 donation to Grow Regina Community Gardens, Inc. in support of bee-friendly gardening initiatives.
“Our mission is to enhance the social, economic and cultural well-being of Regina through community gardens. Our gardens are for serious gardeners and new gardeners alike. The whole community benefits from this beautiful green space open to all to walk through and enjoy. $10,000 is going to make a huge difference to the health of our gardens and our bees!” says Yvette Crane, Chairperson, Grow Regina Community Gardens Inc.
Billy Bee identified Regina, Saskatchewan as Canada’s Sweetest Town by using secondary research including data from Statistics Canada about volunteerism, charitable giving, demographics, and employment rates, all relating back to the “bee-haviours”. Regina consistently ranked amongst the top cities and towns in each list.
The sweet “bee-haviours” demonstrated by Regina, Saskatchewan are:
- Much like honey bees selflessly collaborate to build and improve their hives , Regina was ranked one of Canada’s most charitable and socially engaged cities, and is home to numerous recipients of Saskatchewan’s volunteerism medal.
- Like honey bees are welcoming to bees from other hives , Regina is amongst Canada’s most welcoming cities , with one of the highest numbers of new Canadians arrivals per capita.
- Honey bees perform the “waggle dance” to share important information with each other. As one of Canada’s most cultured cities , the people of Regina share traditions and stories through dance and performance arts too.
- Honey bees huddle together and feast on honey to endure our harsh Canadian winters . Regina experiences some of the country’s coldest nights and sees more freezing weather than most Canadian cities.
- Like hard-working honey bees who work up to 9 months straight, Regina has one of Canada’s lowest unemployment rates.
“One of the differentiating characteristics of honey bees, compared to other species of bees, is their social behavior,” adds Paul Kelly, Research and Apiary Manager at Guelph University’s Honey Bee Research Centre. “As it turns out, the same “bee-haviours” that make honey bees special, also make Regina the collaborative, welcoming, sharing and hard-working community it is.”
This announcement, which coincides with National Honey Month, is a celebration of Canadian sweetness. Billy Bee also says it’s a further commitment to the Canadian honey industry, without whom, their recent move to 100 per cent Canadian honey would not have been possible.
“Our mission at Billy Bee is to make life sweeter,” says Cheryl Radisa, Vice President of Marketing at McCormick Canada. “That includes continuing to offer 100% Canadian sourced honey and donating to community based charities and organizations, like Grow Regina Community Gardens, Incorporated, who are helping to create healthy environments for honey bees from coast to coast.”
To find out more about our search and the discovered “bee-haviours,” visit https://www.facebook.com/BillyBee/.
About Billy Bee®
Founded in 1958 and acquired by McCormick & Co. Inc. in 2008, Billy Bee Honey Products is Canada's number one honey brand (Nielsen Markettrack All Channel Latest 52 weeks to June 24, 2017).
