Get an up-close look
Beekeeper to give demonstration in Charlottetown Sunday as part of P.E.I. Open Farm Day
People can get up close and personal with thousands of bees on Sunday as part of P.E.I. Open Farm Day in Charlottetown.
Bruce Smith, a beekeeper in Morell, will be giving a demonstration at the Urban Beehive Project behind the P.E.I. Farm Centre on University Avenue at 1 p.m.
“We’ll be talking about the importance of bees and the various stages of life,’’ Smith said. “People can get to within an inch of working bees and not get stung.’’
The Urban Beehive Project features two 14-foot-high hexagon houses. Each of them houses about 60,000 bees. The houses have plexiglass that people can peak through to see the bees at work. There is also a large seating area designed like honeycombs.
The bees can also easily be seen flying in and out of the structures and, if it’s quiet enough, they can be heard buzzing inside.
Smith conducts demonstrations for school children at the Urban Beehive Project, teaching them how important they are to the environment and that there’s nothing to be afraid of.
“You can walk up to the front of those hives and if you’re not being aggressive (such as swatting at them) they just keep flying in and out. They’re not at all concerned about you.’’
Besides insecticides, veroa mites and small hive beetles, a bee’s biggest concern is the wasp. Soldier bees will sit in a row at the entrance to a hive to defend it against wasp invaders.
The Urban Beehive Project was designed by Nine Yards Studio in Charlottetown and built by carpenter Brodie Chappell. The studio received national recognition from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada for the project. It also received a medal under the community initiative category at the 2018 National Urban Design Awards.
“The innovative Urban Beehive Project shows how urban design can help address, educate and inspire people to protect and conserve the environment,’’ the Urban Design Awards jury said. “It is a model for the role of architecture in starting a dialogue on a locally important environmental issue. In addition to the design and building of playful and engaging forms, the project exhibits the expanded role of the designer (in a non-profit capacity) as steward and educator.’’