Rooted in Tomorrow: Our Rooftop Bees!
Did you know that, on the rooftop of our McKenzie Corner store, we have two bee hives that help to provide pollinators for our farmer friends in the Blenkinsop Valley? Read on to learn more about these incredible little guys, and how they help care for the beautiful Saanich landscape around us.
What’s the Buzz?
Our bee hives are home to over 12,000 bees, and just today (a sunny day in April!), they have travelled a mind-blowing 16,000km! How cool is that?
Bees play a vital role in our ecosystem; they’re pollinators, which means they help plants reproduce by transferring pollen, so our supply of farm fresh produce depends on them!
Through our Root Cellar hives, we’re so proud to play a tiny part in enabling this cycle to continue.
Oh Hey Honey!
There’s another sweet thing our bees do for us – make honey of course! It’s harvested once a year in the fall, and we receive a shipment of our very own Root Cellar honey jars later that winter. You can purchase it from both our store locations while quantities last. It’s delicious and tastes of blackberry (try pairing it with cheese and crackers!) and you can’t get much more local than that.
Did you Know…
Our bee hives are lovingly care for by Francesco, a talented local bee-keeper. Here are some fun facts that Francesco has shared with us…
“The lifespan of a worker bee is more dependent on the amount of work they do rather than their chronological age. As worker bees age, they perform different tasks throughout the hive. Starting as nurses and cleaners, worker bees will graduate into different roles such as wax building, honey processing, guarding, queen care, and eventually becoming foragers! This transition usually takes place in the third week of their life and will remain their task for the remainder of their lifetime!”
“Unlike most insects, honeybees don’t go dormant over the winter. Instead, a honeybee colony stays awake all winter inside the hive, clustered together in a tight ball, consuming honey and vibrating their flight muscles to generate heat.”
Meet the Bees!
A couple of times every year, we invite you to come along and learn more about these fascinating creatures. In the summer, we host a ‘Meet the Bees’ event with our beekeeper, followed by a ‘From Hive to Honey Jar’ workshop in the fall. These events are run by the lovely people at Alvéole, who help us care for our bees throughout the year. Keep an eye on our social media pages for more information!