Happy World Bee Day! A day dedicated to celebrating what the bees have to offer and raising awareness of the importance of bees and beekeeping.
Did you know that nearly a third of the world’s food production depends on bees and their pollination?
Bees are renowned for their role in providing high-quality food (honey, royal jelly, and pollen) and other products used in healthcare and other sectors (beeswax, propolis, honey bee venom).
At Summerhill Market, we recognize the importance of bees and, a little over a year ago, decided to partner with Bee Local 416 to host beehives on the rooftop of our Annex location!
We wanted to do this in hopes of someday being able to sell our very own Summerhill Market honey that is being produced right above our store!
Currently, we have two beehives alive and well (yes, they survived the winter!), hosting approximately 50 to 8000 bees depending on the season. We expect honeycombs from these hives later in the year and hopefully will get some honey out of them in the fall!
About Bee Local 416:
Founder Joseph Curry created this company to introduce urban beekeeping to Toronto in 2016. He now helps to manage honey hives kept in back yards and on rooftops all around Toronto using sustainable organic methods.
Joseph holds excellent knowledge in sustainable agriculture and has been helping us manage these beehives to keep them healthy in the most sustainable way. He comes in every two weeks to ensure that the bees are appropriately cared for using organic treatments and integrated pest management.
With about 30% of beehives dying every year because of diseases, pesticides, and climate change, it’s essential to make sure we are taking care of our beehives in the best way possible, and that’s what Joseph has been doing for us!
