Vancouver’s city hall will get rooftop bees

Demonstration project part of the effort to make Vancouver the greenest city in the world

By Tiffany Crawford
The Vancouver Sun
19 Mar 2010

Excerpt:

Vancouver is moving ahead with plans to make the city greener by installing beehives on the roof of city hall.

In a memo circulated to all staff this week, the city said that in an effort to make Vancouver the greenest city in the world, there will be a demonstration beehive project on the roof of the east wing. The demonstration will include the installation of two hives.

The memo said that while there was not expected to be “ any significant concentration of bees around city hall, persons with allergies to bee sting should take appropriate precautions.”

Coun. Andrea Reimer, a member of the city’s Green Action Team who is allergic to bee stings, said “ appropriate precautions” do not include staff staying home or wearing protective clothing because the bees will be so high up that “ there really is no chance of human interaction” for city workers.

“ Honeybees are not aggressive like wasps,” Reimer said. “ They do swarm when they are leaving the hive and I know that sounds like a horror movie, but it’s not. They are flying at high levels.

“ Obviously there is the chance of bees in the garden, and so it’s not like the possibility doesn’t exist of getting stung but the chances of getting stung by a bee are so low compared to wasps. People who are allergic should be taking precautions anyway.”

See the rest of the article here.

See also: Condo owner hopes city will help stop eviction of her rooftop bees

See also: City to allow bees on apartment roofs