REWIND: 2017 Northlands Urban Farm Tour

  This article was written in 2017. Some information has changed since then. 

Red Barn at the back of the Urban Farm

     Today I met with Patty Milligan, otherwise known as Lola Canola. In the past, she ran a large honey business which was quite prominent at The City Market. I vividly remember going to the farmer's market when I was younger and begging my mum to get me honey sticks from her table. Although her appearances at the market have declined over the past couple summers, her public engagement in teaching and sharing information regarding beekeeping is drastically increasing.

Welcome Sign

     Patty currently works at Northlands on part of the Ag team. She also helps Travis Kennedy, the Northlands Urban Farm manager, with the Urban Farm tours. In an interest to learn about the bees at the Urban Farm and the Urban farm itself, I went on a tour. When I arrived there was about 25 other people and a photographer from The Edmonton Journal. Once the photographer had gotten his needed interviews with patty and Travis, the tour started. The first half was dedicated to the growing operation of lettuce, corn, tomatoes, and other vegetables. All the vegetables are harvested on a weekly basis and sold at the 124 Grand Market, French Quarter Grand Market, and Southwest Edmonton Farmers’ Market. The greens are also used in a few local restaurants and in Northland's own kitchen. The second half of the tour was about the bees and was led by Patty. 

In addition to bees, the farm is also home to chickens!

     The 'bee tour' started with Patty addressing any concerns about the bees and establishing a safe distance to view the hive. When she opened the hive she was very calm and collected and was optimistic that no one would get stung. What surprised me was that she didn't have a bee suit on! She went in with only shorts, a long sleeve shirt, and a baseball cap, she later told me she put on so bees wouldn't get stuck in her hair. She swiftly pulled out a frame and held it up so everyone could see. She then gave it to her son, Rory, who was in a bee suit, so he could walk around and show people the frame of bees close up. She then called my name and asked if I was comfortable holding/showing a frame of bees. I was amazed! I promptly said yes and was handed a frame of bees. Fortunately, everything went smoothly and nobody got stung. 

     In addition to the viewing of the beehive, there was a Q&A with Patty. Everyone had lots of questions, fortunately, we had enough time to answer them all. 

Questions presented at the Q&A

Q: If bees are cold-blooded, how do bees fly in the winter?

    A: Bees don't actually fly during the winter. Before winter begins, we wrap the hive in a super-insulated-blanket-type-thing.                That blanket seals the bees in the hive and makes sure they are warm enough in the hive to survive the winter. Once most of the snow melts, we then take the blanket off the hive, which allows the bees to exit the hive.

Q: How many individual bees are there normally in one hive?

     A: There can be as many as 80,00 but most of them have any number between 30,000 to 50,000. Of course, this is just an approximation. 

Q: You mentioned CCD earlier. What is that?

     A: CCD stands for Colony Collapse Disorder. It's the name for a phenomenon, for lack of a better word, where entire beehives- colonies of bees disappear. It was first noticed around 2008 by a whole bunch of beekeepers in the US and Canada. 

Q: So what's making the bees disappear?

     A: Well, to be frank, no one knows. There are quite a few theories and speculations. For example, climate change, pesticides, mites, diseases, toxins, lack of stable food sources... rays from cellphones... GMOs... the list goes on and on.

 🐝

     The next morning I got an email from Patty saying that there was an article in The Edmonton Journal about the tour. I found the link and started to read. Along with the article, there was a video. I intently watched it, waiting for a sight of Patty or a mention of bees. Not only did I find both, but I also saw myself holding a frame of bees! This experience has been so cool, and I will hopefully be back for more tours.

     

Read the article and watch the video below. Look at 0.47 to see me holding the frame of bees!

Learn more about the Urban Farm and book tickets for a visit at  https://www.northlands.com/event-calendar/northlands-urban-farm-tour/