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If you had told Trevor Tuck 10 years ago that he would one day be a beekeeper, he’d have said you were out of your mind.

The Grand Falls-Windsor native was on a very different path in those days. He was living the high life, but his career choice was one that did not follow the law — much less the strong morals instilled in him by his parents.

In need of a change, Tuck found himself soul searching for something to satisfy his thirst for a more positive existence. That’s when he discovered liquid gold. He began to explore the bee industry with trips to Grenada, Mexico and Belize to meet with international bee keepers. Through his travels, he learned how important bees are to the world, and knew this was the encouraging influence he was seeking in his life.

Tuck’s Bee Better Honey officially started six years ago with the closure of the paper mill in Grand Falls-Windsor. To compensate for the region’s loss, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, along with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, funded the start-up of close to a dozen cranberry farms. It was the catalyst Tuck needed to introduce his bee business.

“There was a need for pollination services and by adding honey bees to any berry farm or fruit crop, you increase your yield substantially,” he says. “The pollination business is big business around the world. No one (in Newfoundland) was providing it at that time. I saw an opportunity and a need for it because, how were our berry farmers supposed to be competitive with anyone else in the country if they didn’t have access to pollinators to be able to do that?”

Today, it’s not only the cranberry yields that have increased, but the demand for Tuck’s products and his time. There are regular school presentations, the scattered visitor looking for an agricultural tour, interest in international exporting of honey and honey bees, as well as several unique partnerships – one involving the people of Haiti.

As part of Tuck’s vision to positively impact people, he has joined forces with his brother to explore the possibility of providing small numbers of bee colonies to Haitians. This partnership will increase Haiti’s food production through bee pollination, provide wages from the sale of honey and wax products, and even offer medicinal wound care in a location where medical treatment is at a minimum.

“If you give somebody a skill that they can then earn money with, they have a feeling of self-worth; they are being a productive member of society, and producing a good product that they can sell to make a living to support their family.”

In his efforts to make the world a better place, Tuck hasn’t forgotten those who supported him along the way. He’s partnered with Serenity on the Rock, a substance abuse treatment program located in Woody Point, Newfoundland and Labrador.

“We’ll be giving them wax and they’ll be making candles. It’s giving them (program participants) things to occupy their mind, things they can be proud of — helps them get through those few weeks by giving them something else to think of,” Tuck explains. “I’ve seen people go through a lot of different addictions and this (bee keeping) was one thing that really worked for me. Just made me aware of how small and insignificant our problems really are in relation to the world as a whole.”