Paul van Westendorp is a husband, bee expert, researcher and British Columbia's Provincial Apiculturist.
Paul first became interested in bees in his grade three class, in his native Holland. He immigrated to Canada to attend the University of British Columbia (UBC). When Mr. van Westendorp graduated UBC he went to Alberta to become an apiculture research technician at Beaver Lodge, the Agriculture Canada research station. From there, he took on a position in Kampala, Uganda. Paul became the provincial apiculturist for Alberta, then took on the same position in British Columbia. As provincial apiarist, van Westendorp oversees statistics and the provincial beekeeper registry, which includes approximately 3,000 beekeepers, most of whom are hobby beekeepers concentrated in the Fraser Valley. In 2019, Mr. van Westendorp was called in to help address the Asian Giant Hornets discovered in Nanaimo, BC. In an interview with Provincial Employees Association, Paul comments “The importance of bees is not a luxury. Deep down we know that without bees we are in trouble”.
