There’s a buzz in the air at Sunridge Gardens—it’s the sound of honey bees and humanity working together for a better world. This week, in cooperation with the Alvéole Project, Sunridge Gardens installed two hives of urban honeybees in their back courtyard.
“We’ve got approximately 10,000-20,000 bees in the hives right now,” said Cindy Wei, the Alvéole bee keeper assigned to the Sunridge Gardens hives, “We anticipate seeing that number grow to between 50,000-100,000.”
Through the spring and summer, Bria’s urban bees will travel up to 5 km, pollinating as they go, and the result will be a honey harvest for residents to enjoy.
Residents gathered to watch Cindy set up the hives and ask questions about the bees behaviour and how she’ll care for them. Janet, has lived at Sunridge Gardens since 2013, even got an opportunity to meet the Queen up close. “At first, I was concerned about keeping bees. I wondered about stinging and swarming,” she says. “But I did some research, and I realized how much we need to support our pollinators. This is something we can do to help.”
Recently, there has been a ‘save the bees’ movement as people recognize that the loss of habitat and climate change have created an emergency for pollinators. Worldwide, bees pollinate 130 varieties of fruits and vegetables—that’s one-third of our food supply. At Sunridge Gardens, along with hosting the bees and harvesting the honey, residents will have the opportunity to engage in two beekeeping workshops and learn more about the impact bees have on our environment.
“This project fits well with our other green practices,” says Shannon Saunders, General Manager. Sunridge Gardens is a LEED (Leader in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building. It’s also a BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) Best certified building, meeting industry standards for sustainability. “I love that hosting these hives contributes to the health and wellbeing of our environment and at the same time contributes to our residents’ quality of life as well.”
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