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SMALL BUSINESS MONTH - SUPPLEMENT TO THE FREE PRESS - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2025
ONE BUSY BEE THE FARMER’S
DAUGHTER ARTISNAL
HONEY BUSINESS OWNER SAVOURS SUCCESS.
Bailey Gitzel, owner of Carman-based small business The Farmer’s Daughter.
The growing success of The Farmer’s Daughter has generated considerable buzz. Last year she was selected as one of five Red River Métis Female Entrepreneurs to Watch by the Manitoba Mé- tis Federation. It’s an honour Gitzel didn’t take lightly. “I felt so proud to be selected for that and just to be recognized for all the work that I have done basically since I was a kid. It felt like people were appreciating it. It felt really nice,” she says. The Farmer’s Daughter remains “small scale,” something Gitzel believes sets it apart from other similar businesses. Every product is produced and packaged by hand at the office space she leases in Carman. While Gitzel is the sole proprietor of the business, it is something of a family affair. It’s not uncommon for grandpa Bob, grandma Betty, mom Robyn or younger brothers Hunter and Dawson to lend a hand during the busy part of the honey season. “I call them my worker bees. They’re mostly free labour,” she says, laughing. It seems somehow fitting that Gitzel ended up becoming a bee- keeper and that her hives are located where they are. Her fourth great-grandmother was a beekeeper on the same farmland that her father owns today where her own hives are located. “Apparently, I’m very much like her,” she says. “It’s kind of cool because I’ve had my bees on the same land that she homesteaded on.” The success of The Farmer’s Daughter isn’t something Gitzel takes for granted. In 2018 she suffered a heartbreaking setback when a garage fire at her parents’ home wiped out her beekeeping supplies and honey stock for the year. She’s been steadily rebuild- ing the business since then.
BY JIM TIMLICK
You might say bees have always been the bee’s knees for Bailey Gitzel. G rowing up on her family’s farm near the town of Carman, Gitzel became fascinated with the tiny winged insects as a kid after reading the book The Secret Life of Bees. By age 14, she already had her first beehive and began selling honey and honey-flavoured baked goods at the local farmers market a short time later. Today, Gitzel is the proud owner of The Farmer’s Daughter, a Carman-based small business that produces a line of artisnal honey products including flavoured honeys, beeswax candles and food wraps, lip balms, bubble bath elixir and handmade cutting boards with a beeswax finish. More than a decade after devouring author Sue Monk Kidd’s best-selling novel, Gitzel’s fascination with her busy little friends hasn’t abated. “Honestly, I think bees are just fascinating,” she says. “It’s not just about the honey, it’s how the hive works together. They figure stuff out; they can do everything. They build all that wax and they take care of each other like nurses. The whole pro- cess is really fascinating to me.” Gitzel’s operation has grown from that single beehive (which was originally gifted to her by fellow beekeeper Garth Allan) to as many as 40 at a given time. Her products are available for pur- chase at her company’s online store and at several markets includ- ing the Wolseley Farmers Market.
It’s not just about the honey, it’s how the hive works together.”
— Bailey Gitzel
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