Beanfield’s metropolitan facilities have been fitted with rooftop beehives from Alvéole since 2018. We decided to participate in urban beekeeping to inspire our staff and our community to re-imagine urban space, and do more for the environment. The delicious, ultra-local honey we get out of these hives is just a sweet, sweet bonus!
When Beanfield expanded into Montreal in 2020, we brought the hives with us. To be fair, Alvéole did the heavy-lifting! They installed two hives on the roof of our downtown office at 3510 Saint-Laurent, and two hives on the roof of our warehouse in TMR.
This June, when we were coordinating the seasonal return of our bees with Alvéole, we found that our TMR warehouse needed maintenance and repairs to the roof. We were really disappointed to tell our Alvéole Urban Beekeeper, Ananda, that we couldn’t house those two hives this year. As it turns out, this wasn’t the first bit of bad news Ananda received that day: l’École secondaire Monseigneur Richard (ESMR), a local high school who had adopted Alvéole hives in previous years, found themselves unable to afford their hives in 2021 since their activities budget was impacted by the Pandemic.
Luckily, Ananda saw that there was potential for something great to happen here. As soon as she told us ESMR’s story, we knew what had to happen: Beanfield’s displaced hives would be installed at Monseigneur Richard High School! And our bees would have a great time there, too. They’re a huge part of ESMR’s “Science 2.0” STEM curriculum, and the workshops are highly anticipated. Plus, the school sells the hives’ honey yield to fund their junior robotics team, the Roblox. These hives will not only educate and inspire, but they will directly support and fund STEM education and activities. For us, that’s a win in every way!
This story is far from over. In fact, it’s just beginning! The hives were installed on ESMR’s roof at the end of June, after the school year ended. We look forward to hearing from ESMR, the Science 2.0 students, and the mighty Roblox, about the hives, the honey pot sales, and the amazing things the students & staff will get to experience. Beanfielders will be invited to a hive-related workshop, of course, and there will be opportunities for mechanically astute Beanfielders to volunteer with the Roblox! Stay tuned for updates, this fall.
