Maggie Lamothe-Boudreau raises queen bees in Québec. John Winter Russell is the owner and chef of the renowned Montréal restaurant Candide. Through their stories, we explore two radically different paths toward a common goal: eating local year-round.

Maggie Lamothe-Boudreau specializes in raising queens, an uncommon branch of beekeeping. While the early days of her business were tough, today other beekeepers from across the province make the trip to her farm to acquire her local queens. She shares her daily life in Saint-Adrien-d’Ireland with the creatures she affectionately calls her “girls.”
Chef John Winter Russell welcomes us at Candide, the restaurant he founded in November 2015 with one goal: to eat 100 per cent local, year-round. The restaurant’s menu varies with the seasons, according to availability, while the chef and his team work tirelessly to make preserves, including green strawberries, herring, fiddleheads, and smelt eggs.

