John Grant discusses the honey bee research conducted on Thorah Island by researchers from the University of Guelph. His wife Laurie was one of the people who started the study as North American honey bees have a tracheal mite and an Irish monk had developed a strain that was resistant to the mite. Because honey bees can't fly further than one mile, and there was no indigenous honey bee already on Thorah Island, it was selected as the best location for the study. The study is ongoing, and John recalls going to visit once and seeing that the Guelph students had smudge pots for smokers to make the bees docile. When their professor had told them to collect green vegetation to make smoke, John noticed they were collecting poison ivy. The Beaverton Distrcit Conservation Club was formed in the early 1990s to initiate conservation efforts for Lake Simcoe. The group regularly obtains permits to stock walleye and maintain the acreage on Thorah Island where the bee study takes place.
