If you go to "PrairieBeeMeadery.ca" you'll find a most informative and attractive, easy-to-navigate website featuring the products that Saskatchewan's first and "premiere craft meadery" has to offer. 

Prairie bee "hand-craft" their "internationally award-winning meads (15 medals and counting) in small batches" which means "every bottle has our personal touch - and seal of approval." 

By definition, a mead is "an alcoholic drink of fermented honey and water".  Prairie Bee adds locally grown fruit to the process and produces some wonderful wines. 

"The fruits that are incorporated into our wines are all-Canadian and many of them are estate-grown on our Saskatchewan Farm!  We have products with finishes that range from sweet to dry, truly a treasure for every palate." 

We could quote the website some more but thought we'd better talk to the woman who fronts the operation.  Crystal Milburn and her family own and operate Prairie Bee Meadery, a relatively new and growing local business. 

"Prairie Bee opened up as a cottage winery in June of 2016 so we're into our sixth year now.  My parents bought a quarter-section out here in Saskatchewan several years ago and got into growing fruits and beekeeping and eventually, kind of almost by accident, we ended up deciding that what we were going to do is make mead and introduce this product to the people of Saskatchewan," Milburn explained. 

"We live where we work, and we work where we live.  We have our little winery set up right on our farm and that's where we do all of our work.  We're about 20 kilometres west of Moose Jaw, just south of Caron, actually, so it's not that far out if you want to come out for a visit," Milburn said with a smile. 

So, how do they bring together the honey and the fruit and make wine? 

A look inside Prairie Bee Meadery, located at 401 Main Street North - in the basement of Grant Hall Hotel.

"Well, it's a lot of work and very, very sticky work," Milburn laughed. 

"It's a process, like anything else.  If you think about cooking something up in the kitchen, you've got to get your ingredients together and your equipment ready to go and then you mix it all up and do what you've got to do.  That's what we're doing, just on a really large scale.  So, we're working in much bigger batches, but our ingredients are really simple - there's honey, there's water and there's fruit and that's where it all starts," Milburn explained. 

And, while it's the family doing most of the work, Milburn says Prairie Bee Meadery has created some employment opportunities for local people. 

"It depends on what time of the year it is but... We do have some employees who are out helping us and helping us get the product out and encouraging people to try it," Milburn said. 

"My husband and I are the main front-facing family business members at the moment, but my parents started the business with our help about five years ago and are still involved... And I have a little brother, not so little I guess, who can be enticed to help us out from time to time as well," Milburn chuckled. 

If you drop into Prairie Bee Meadery, located in the basement of the Grant Hall Hotel on Moose Jaw's Main Street, you'll find a number of different flavours to choose from. 

"When we originally started, we used fruits that are grown right here in Saskatchewan so, we have sour cherry trees on our property, so we make a sour cherry wine that is very popular and my dad's favourite.  He loves it!  We do a haskap wine, so we grow haskap berries here in Saskatchewan and we do raspberries which again, we grow here... We keep trying new things.  We're bringing in fruit from all over the place, so we do blueberries and cranberries and Saskatoons - that's a new one that we've just put out," Milburn said. 

What about the alcohol content? 

"Well, one of the great things about making mead.  We have a lot of control over how much alcohol we have in our products.  You're mixing honey with water so you can be very precise about the amount of sugar you start with when you're fermenting so most of our wines are finished at about 12.5 percent which is just where we like them," Milburn explained. 

And it's not just the wine you'll find at Prairie Bee Meadery.  You'll also find wine-making equipment and supplies, craft alcohol, gift cards and four different flavours of honey. 

"Yes, way back when we got into beekeeping and making honey - my parents started beekeeping to look after the fruit trees - we were growing fruit and were looking for good pollination, so they started beekeeping and of course, suddenly, there was a lot of honey and what are we going to do?  So, my mom ultimately decided to blend some of those Saskatchewan fruits with our honey to make something that's almost like a jam.  It's honey-based but with real fruit blended in.  It's really nice!", Milburn said. 

The honey on the shelf these days features haskap, cherry, raspberry and cinnamon and it goes for just $9.00 a jar. 

Originally located a few blocks south of the current location, Milburn wants to get the word out about their new home, again, in the basement of the Grant Hall Hotel. 

"We just moved this spring... It's been an interesting move for us and making sure people know where we are.  We're looking at doing a tour in the Grant Hall in the near future - talking about the history of Moose Jaw, the history of The Grant Hall itself and a little bit about the craft alcohol industry in Saskatchewan as well.  So, we're working on developing that and getting more and more people coming to visit The Grant Hall," Milburn said. 

And, speaking of tours, Prairie Bee Meadery is inviting locals and tourists alike to book tours of the winery out at Caron. 

"So, yes, every weekend on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays we are running winery tours.  You can come out and visit with us.  It takes about an hour, and we tell you all about everything you never knew you needed to know about mead making right from what the bees are getting up to in the hives to how we turn that wonderful, sweet stuff into wine.  And of course, you get to sample when you visit as well," Milburn said. 

If you're interested in a tour, you need to book one in advance. 

"Yes, right now our tours are capped at 10 people for each time slot.  We might be able to open that up a little more following the pandemic but right now it's best to book in advance.  So, we run four tours a day on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and you can book them right online.  You can choose your time to come visit and then come out and see us." 

And you should also know, you don't have to come to Moose Jaw to get a taste of Prairie Bee.  They ship to liquor stores across the province. 

"I think we're in about 100 liquor stores in Saskatchewan right now so, if you want to pick it up in Estevan or Canora and what have you, you can probably find it in your local liquor store and if they don't have your favourite flavour you can just ask them to bring it in," Milburn said. 

And, what's more, you can order online and get Prairie Bee Meadery products shipped directly in Saskatchewan and a few other provinces. 

"Yes, but not everywhere... Canada has some interesting regulations when it comes to shipping alcohol across provincial borders, but we can ship to the provinces that allow us to do so like British Columbia, Manitoba and Nova Scotia," Milburn said. 

You can also find Prairie Bee and their products at a number of farmer's markets during the summer including markets in Regina and Moose Jaw and from time to time in Swift Current and Kenosee Lake. 

And if you're shopping for yourself or for someone else, Milburn wants you to know you'll find more than wine at Prairie Bee Meadery. 

"Absolutely, if you're looking for something for the wine lover in your life, we carry things like glassware... Decanters and that kind of stuff and we also stock other Saskatchewan craft products so if you're looking for craft beer or craft gin, come and see us and we'll help you find what you need." 

"I just want to make sure everybody knows that mead is a wine made with honey.  It's terrific. I don't make any of my wine with grapes - we don't grow grapes - but we have some of the best honey in the world right here in Saskatchewan, so it does make a really, really lovely wine," Milburn said. 

You can have a look at the products and shop online at PrairieBeeMeadery.ca but it's even better to shop in person at 401 Main Street North - in the basement of the beautiful and historic Grant Hall Hotel.  You can call 306 692 6323 if you have any questions. 

Prairie Bee Meadery in Moose Jaw - We're proud to be promoting this locally owned and operated, growing business in our city on the DiscoverMooseJaw Partner Profile.