About Us

As a young boy, in the 1950’s, Paul spent many hours enjoying helping his grandfather in Austerfield, England with his hobby of keeping honeybees. Fast forward to 1970 when Paul and his new wife, Rita, emigrated to Canada. After working and living in Toronto for a few years, they began to miss the countryside and purchased a farm in Dufferin County. Rita wasn’t sure what to buy Paul for his birthday one year so she purchased a honeybee hive. They soon decided to try and make a go of turning the one hive into an “Apiary” and called their new venture “Austerfield Apiary,” our current honey business! We are aptly named after the small village in England where it all began! We are now a third generation beekeeping business which is family owned and has been in operation for the last 40+ years! Each year finds us adding new products to the Honey stand we take turns running at various markets.

When Matt isn’t in the bee yards tending to the hard-working honey bees, he’s either in the honey house with his Mom, Rita, preparing and packaging the “liquid gold” or making deliveries. Rita and Andrea continue to add new products to the “botanical” side of things and enjoy creating new items annually! In the summer and fall months, Matt, Rita and Andrea take turns working the honey stand at various markets located in Mississauga and Etobicoke.