Honey Bee Zen Apiaries
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Creston, British Columbia · Online shop · honeybeezen.com
Small businessMain products hit
Amanda Goodman Lee and Jeff Lee run 500 colonies on seven acres at Placsko Road in Creston, British Columbia, and bottle wildflower, comb, creamed and infused honey under the Swan Valley Honey and Honey Bee Zen labels, alongside pollination work, bee sales and beekeeping courses.
The "1000 Blossoms Wildflower Honey", "Award-Winning Creamed Honey" and infused creamed honeys the Lees pack in Creston are natural honey under HTS 0409.00.00, which has carried a 50% US duty under Section 338 since August 22, 2026. Roughly 63 per cent of Canada's honey exports go to the United States, and Jeff Lee, who sits on the Canadian Honey Council, said during an earlier round of cross-border tariffs that Canadian producers would have to absorb the duty themselves or ask American buyers to pay it. The farm has posted nothing about the 2026 duty on its own site.Source: content.govdelivery.com, Aug 22, 2026
In their own words
It's hard to get the U.S. administration to see that. Fortunately, right now, we're in a bit of a lull.
Jeff Lee · castanet.net, Apr 28, 2025
Jeff Lee, who owns Swan Valley Honey in Creston with Amanda Goodman-Lee and is a director of the Canadian Honey Council, told Castanet in April 2025, during an earlier round of cross-border tariffs, that "Tariffs just aren't good for anybody on either side" before adding this.
When I think about what's positive, this is an opportunity for us to perhaps buy less American honey and put it into the Canadian market.
Jeff Lee · castanet.net, Apr 28, 2025
In the same April 2025 interview Lee pointed to a domestic market that could take honey the United States no longer buys.
Quoted word for word from public posts and articles. Owners can claim the listing to add or remove a quote.
Made in Canada
The home page opens with "100% CANADIAN MADE" and "From British Columbia's rich fields, forests, and mountains, we produce and source 100% Canadian unsurpassed wildflower and varietal honeys", and adds that "We produce wildflower honeys in the beautiful Creston Valley under both our Swan Valley Honey and Honey Bee Zen™ brands" while also buying "premium Western Canadian wildflower honeys from beekeepers we know and trust".
On the tariff list
- HTS 0409.00.00 · Natural honey · 50% since Aug 22, 2026
The shop sells "1000 Blossoms Wildflower Honey", "Award-Winning Creamed Honey", "2 oz Baby Honey Bear" and infused creamed honeys, described on the home page as "100% Canadian unsurpassed wildflower and varietal honeys" produced in the Creston Valley. Wildflower, comb, creamed and infused honey are natural honey under HTS 0409.00.00; the beeswax candles and cosmetics they also sell are not on the list.
Rates are the additional US duty under Section 338. About the tariffs
Sources
- honeybeezen.com · accessed 2026-09-09
220 Placsko Rd, Creston, BC V0B 1G8
- honeybeezen.com · accessed 2026-09-09
From British Columbia's rich fields, forests, and mountains, we produce and source 100% Canadian unsurpassed wildflower and varietal honeys.
- honeybeezen.com · accessed 2026-09-09
We produce wildflower honeys in the beautiful Creston Valley under both our Swan Valley Honey and Honey Bee Zen™ brands.
- honeybeezen.com · accessed 2026-09-09
We are a family-run beekeeping operation focused on wildflower honeys. We also provide pollination services, and are known for our production of natural honey and beeswax-based cosmetics. We operate 500 colonies so that we can provide high-quality hive and honey products to our customers and excellent pollination units to the tree fruit industry of the Creston Valley.
- honeybeezen.com · accessed 2026-09-09
1000 Blossoms Wildflower Honey
- honeybeezen.com · accessed 2026-09-09
Award-Winning Creamed Honey
- honeybeezen.com · accessed 2026-09-09
Amanda and Jeff began keeping bees first as a hobby and turned their passion into a commercial business in 2012. In 2017, they purchased Swan Valley Honey, an already-established honey producer that serves the Kootenay region, and moved operations from New Westminster.
- bcac.ca · accessed 2026-09-09
Amanda Goodman Lee and Jeff Lee care for between 300 and 500 hives of honey bees. They farm on seven acres and have an established group of honey yards throughout the valley.
- castanet.net · accessed 2026-09-09
Lee also owns Swan Valley Honey in Creston alongside his wife, Amanda, which produces local wildflower honey.
- castanet.net · accessed 2026-09-09
Roughly 63 per cent of the country's export of honey goes to the U.S., and a combined 90 per cent goes to Japan and the U.S., according to the 2021 statistics provided by the CHC.
- honeycouncil.ca · accessed 2026-09-09
Natural honey is listed under the Motor Vehicles annex.
- content.govdelivery.com · accessed 2026-09-09
0409.00.00