Rooftop Garden Honey Tastes Like Vancouver
If you told the average Vancouver commuter that over a quarter million bees recently took up residence in the downtown core, they might be alarmed. A colony of bees just doesn’t seem like your typical urban neighbour. But for someone like me, who owns 11 different jars of honey and plans visits to local hives with the same passion most people reserve for wineries, the discovery that our urban centre has several productive hives left me with only two questions: What does the honey taste like? And how do I arrange to try some?
Bees are said to be responsible for one out of every three bites of food we consume, pollinating about 90% of the world’s food crops. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is an urgent issue in the bee-keeping world, and with North American colonies sustaining population losses of about 30% annually over the past few years, the situation is growing dire. While the jury is still out on what’s causing CCD and how to fix the problem, individuals and companies are trying to fill some of the void by building up colonies in non-traditional settings—such as the South Lawn of the White House and the rooftops of luxury hotels.
Graeme Evans is the Director of Housekeeping at the Fairmont Waterfront—and also the beekeeper. A few years ago the hotel, like all Fairmonts, was encouraged to adopt an environmental program that the staff would be passionate about and that would benefit the local environment. Evans explains that while one person or one business doing one small thing for the planet probably won’t go far, “If everyone did one thing, the impact would be massive.”
Evans says he was inspired to consider bees as his contribution while he was on a trip to Mexico. There, three Fairmont hotels were working with local environmental groups to raise and release endangered marine turtles. “It’s not like we could raise and release grizzly bears.” Evans says. “But bees—they seemed manageable. Without bees to pollinate crops, all we’ll be left with are a few root vegetables.”
Evans says he did some research at Surrey’s Honey Bee Centre and then presented his plan to put bees in the hotel’s rooftop garden. The response from management at the Fairmont Waterfront? “They hated the idea and thought I was nuts.” But his enthusiasm, combined with the facts behind the safety record of the bees that go on display at the PNE every year, convinced management to give urban beekeeping a trial run.
When Evans got the go-ahead, he took a beekeeping course and worked with a local beekeeper. And then as his passion for the bees grew, he gradually took over all the care of the hives. When I visited the surprisingly small but lush garden, Evans demonstrated how comfortable he is with his fuzzy charges by performing their care dressed only in his business suit. “I don’t want guests to think bees are something to be afraid of.”
Now two years old, the hives are doing better than Evans says he ever could have imagined—in terms of hive health (the hives are nearly large enough to be split), honey production, and the unexpected benefit to the surrounding gardens. Evans explains that the rooftop garden’s lush productivity is a new thing—a measurable change since the bees arrived. “We have more herbs; the apple trees that used to produce only a few apples are now heavy with fruit; and the plum and crabapple trees are bearing their first crop.”
The success of the Fairmont hives (and those at the new Vancouver Convention Centre) seem to be in line with French research that shows urban hives are both healthier and more productive than their rural counterparts. The theory is that the bees get a more varied diet in the city. It’s also thought because they have fewer pesticides to contend with, the bees actually experience less pollution than they would in the countryside.
Seeing the bees in their garden habitat and watching Evans care for them was fascinating, but I still didn’t know how the honey tasted. Evans described it as the best honey I would ever taste (which is something every good beekeeper says). I was curious though—most of our honey is produced from the pollination of a single type of crop. Depending on the region, or the point in the season, it might taste of clover, blackberry or buckwheat. But urban honey wouldn’t have one distinct flavour—it would taste of Vancouver, whatever that might mean.
It seemed almost anti-climatic to leave the rooftop garden and head into Herons Restaurant, but Chef Patrick Doré explains how exciting it is for him to use the hotel’s own honey in his recipe development. Having tea sweetened with honey was nice, and the salad dressing with a honey base was excellent. But it was the single honey stick, containing a rich, medium-bronze nectar, that was the highlight of my meal.
Vancouver tastes very sweet indeed.
Despite being allergic to the fuzzy creatures, Diane says bees are her favourite insect, and not just because they make honey. She thinks they also sound nice.
