Apr 12th, 2010
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Urban Beekeeping in Toronto

You may be wondering; what does beekeeping have to do with fresh slow cooking? First, making honey is a slow process for the bees. During her lifetime a worker bee only produces 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey. That means twelve bee lifetimes per teaspoon of honey — a total of almost 10 000 miles (16 000 km) of flight, and drinking the nectar of over 30 000 flowers. Second, although I keep my usage of sweeteners to a minimum since watching Sugar: The Bitter Truth, I substitute honey for sugar in my cooking whenever possible. Third, what could be more fresh than enjoying honey straight from the comb of bees that you take of?… Not only that, bees are necessary for directly pollinating approximately 30% of our foods, including almonds, blueberries and apples — where would we be without our fresh fruits and vegetables?

These days, we don’t even have our own backyard, and even if we did, Toronto bylaws require that we need an acre of land. Then, if we place our beehive in the centre of our property, it will have a thirty foot radius. There’s no way we can afford an acre of land in Toronto! This is where the Toronto Beekeepers Co-operative comes in. They are a group of about 30 beekeepers of various levels that have permission to manage beehives in non-residential areas.

This Saturday, the co-op held an introductory beekeeping workshop at the FoodShare building in Toronto’s west end. The workshop included lots of practical information for new beekeepers including: how to choose your equipment and protective gear, how to build and assemble your beehive, and how to extract the honey. The organizers did a great job in keeping all the attendees moving and interested, and happily answered all of our questions. It’s true what they say about beekeepers; ask them a question about bees and they’ll talk to you for hours :)

Being in Toronto, the co-operative focuses on urban beekeeping. Currently they manage about 20 hives. Some are on the rooftop of the Evergreen building at the Brickworks, and a few are part of the Fairmont Royal York’s rooftop garden. Luckily they’re recruiting a few more beekeepers this season, so I have my fingers crossed!

We may have used up all our luck though. In a draw at the end of the day we won a small jar of the coveted Royal York amber honey, and a gift certificate for a fundraising plant sale. If you’re near Toronto check out the plant sale. It happens Saturday May 15, 2010 from 8:00 am – 3:00 pm at 843 Palmerston Avenue. Proceeds go to the St. Alban’s Boys' and Girl’s Club. They will be selling a wide selection of plants including: perennials, herbs and heirloom vegetables. Have you started your gardening this year?

Finally, what do you think of bees? Do you fear their sting?

How would you feel if your neighbours kept a beehive or two?

Also, what’s your favourite honey recipe?