Leonard Joy has been beekeeping for over 30 years. He has about 60 hives near the North Valleys area to provide enough wildflower honey to sell at local farmers’ markets.
His wife, Jackie helps him set up their original honey, their bees wax and a few honey sticks for people to taste. Everything is locally made except the honey sticks.
Leonard, although a bee keeper for over 30 years, shares his first year at the Sparks Farmers’ Market with his wife, Jackie.
It has been known that local honey may have a few positive effects on a person’s health.
“[Local] honey can help allergies but it may not help you if the bees aren’t collecting the pollen [allergen] you’re allergic to,” Leonard said.
Health is not the only factor in considering local honey. Leonard and Jackie both agreed that fresh honey has a bouquet that tastes much better.
“It has no [artificial] flavor, other than what the bees do [themselves],” Leonard said.
The bees’ wax the Joy’s make is a simple product that can be used for a multitude of things like candles, crayons and even moustache wax.
Although Leonard has been doing this a long time, he admits to making some decisions that, if handled differently, could have avoided him a sting.
“I’ve only been stung when I’ve done something dumb,” Leonard said.
Tips to remember when you’ve been stung:
- Scrape the stinger with a credit card of some sort to avoid pinching the stinger and squeezing the poison into your body.
- Take a pain reliever like ibuprofen.
- Ice it, the swelling will go down and it will numb the pain a bit.
- Toothpaste can also help the sting by making you feel like your itching, when you’re not!
Tips from Leonard and wikihow
Sparks Farmers' Market 