What's the buzz? Montreal's Alvole spreads to U.S., other provinces

A young girl jumps and hides behind her father as a swarm of bees emerges fromtheir hive under the watch of an Alvole beekeeper.

The child's reaction is what the Alvole team is working to changethrough their beehiverental service and workshops.

Beekeeper Emily McBean said people are raised to bescared of bees what she calls a "hypothetical fear."

"We're given so many negative suggestions and feelings growing up," she said.

A trio of beekeepers who'd been working in Manitoba launched Alvolein 2012, after arriving in Montreal and noticing no one in the city kept bees.

They loved beekeeping, McBeansaid,"and no one had access to it."

Theywere confident that exposing othersto the benefits of having beeswould create a more bee-friendly city.

It's a symbiotic relationship: bees thrive in cities like Montreal, with its strict anti-pesticide laws, and as they go about their business making honey, they pollinate flower and vegetable gardens.

Alvole now oversees 600 hives in Montreal. It also rents out hives in Quebec City and Toronto, and this year Alvole, added Ottawa, Chicago, Vancouver and Calgary to its list.

A single hive can produce as much as 100 140-gram jars of honey.

Alvole oversees 600 hives in Montreal and offers workshops on beekeeping.

5 years ago

Duration 1:25

Beekeeper Emily McBean said people are raised to be scared of bees a hypothetical fear.

McBean stood in front of thishive one of six on the first-floor roof of Maison Radio-Canada without any protective netting or gear, manipulatingthe hive's compartments bare-handed, ashundreds of bees buzzed around her.

"These bees are very chill.They just buzz around, ask what's happening," McBean said.

McBean said she gets stung two or three times a week,usually at the end of the day when she's not being as careful.

Since bees die when they sting someone, they'll basically do it only if they think the hive is under threat.

McBean smokedthe hive to block the "intruder alert" message that the bees send each other via their pheremones.

"It's like blurring their wifi system,"said Laurence Hamelin, Alvole's manager of communications. "It keeps them calm and under control."

Once the bees had left the hive, McBean opened it up, removing the frames to inspect the honeycomb while the bees flew around her passively.

Alvole works with businesses and schools to take care of their hives and lead workshops.

The team will also help with honey collection and print custom labels designed by the hosts to put on their honey jars.

"It's such a gateway to thinking about what food we're producingand what we're eating, andhow can we be more sustainable with our food," McBean said.

She said a lot of people who reach out to the company about getting a hive on their property typically want to feel more connected to nature.

Alvolebelieves it also encouragespeople to become more aware of a sustainable lifestyle.

"The concept is so simple: putting hives on roofs," McBean said. "It really is about awareness, education, thinking about where our food comes from honeybees are just the start of that."