There is a buzz in Vernon
by Heather Clay
Urban beekeeping is on the rise in North America and Canada is no exception. Since 2008 the number of beekeepers has increased by almost 2,000 across the country. These new beekeepers are predominantly small scale, keeping their apiaries on small lots in cities and suburbs. Some city dwellers keep their bees in the backyard, some have balcony hives, some have a sharing arrangement with neighbours and others have taken to the rooftop of buildings such as hotels or apartments. One urban beekeeper has hives on the rooftop of the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Cities offer many advantages to beekeepers. The great variety of flowers found in gardens, parks, planter boxes and wild spaces provide abundant sources of food for honey bees. They thrive on the mixed variety of pollen and nectar sources. The end product is a wildflower honey that is aromatic and delicious.
As urban beekeeping increases there is pressure on cities and municipalities to modernize their bylaws and allow beekeeping. Many big cities such as New York, Denver, Minneapolis and Vancouver allow beekeepers to have 2 hives of bees. Others such as Calgary and Saskatoon do not restrict beekeeping, so long as there are no complaints. Kamloops changed its bylaws in 2014 to join a long list of BC towns including Burnaby, Delta, New Westminster, Richmond, Langley, Surrey, Maple Ridge and North Vancouver in allowing beekeeping. Edmonton city updated its bylaw in 2015 and this year Dawson City and Winnipeg now permit bees (for a fee). Toronto has applied to become a certified “City of Bees”, one of 20 bee friendly cities in North America.
One of the outliers in this move to allow beneficial pollinators, is the city of Vernon. The current bylaws only allow honey bees on land zoned Agricultural Land Reserve or Rural Residential. No city lots qualify. Yet there are lots of local beekeepers and many others who would like to keep a hive or two in their backyard. It is important for many reasons to allow small scale beekeeping in Vernon. It will improve bee numbers and in turn have a benefical impact on agriculture and urban farming. If you would like to support a change to the bylaw please contact Heather Clay beelady29@gmail.com
Tips for Keeping Bees
Take a beekeeper course, learn the joy of working with these amazing creatures
Provide undisturbed sites in your garden for pollinator shelter and nesting sites.
Plant pollinator-friendly flowering plants, shrubs, and trees. Choose species with different flowering periods and a variety of floral shapes and colours.
Reduce your use of pesticides.
Register your bees with provincial apiculture office, BC Ministry of Agriculture http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/animals-and-crops/animal-production/bees , Abbotsford
Join your local beekeeper association and find a mentor. North Okanagan Beekeepers meet 3rd Monday each month. http://northokanaganbeekeepers.ca/
Learn more about bees and beekeeping at www.urbanbeenetwork.ca.
Heather Clay was Provincial Apiarist for New Brunswick, CEO of the Canadian Honey Council and recently founded the Urban Bee Network, www.urbanbeenetwork.ca a project to provide information for small-scale beekeepers.
This is the third and final article in the series about bees supported by SENS (Sustainable Environmental Network Society). For more information, to become a member or volunteer, please check out the SENS Newsletter or the SENS facebook page for upcoming events.