Meeting with MLA—Shannon Phillips

City Council By-Law

Prior to 1983, residents of the City of Lethbridge were able to beekeep within city limits. However, an amendment to Bylaw 3383 that pertains to bees now prevents residents from being able to do so. In Southern Alberta, bee populations are currently decreasing with reports saying that North American beekeepers are losing approximately one third of their bees each year. As a way to help the bee population, our team made it a goal to try and have this bylaw amended to allow urban beekeeping within city limits.

We drafted a petition to have residents of our city to sign, indicating that if they signed, they support wanting Lethbridge to have urban beekeeping. As we talked to residents, they agreed that bees play a crucial role in our lives and we need them in order to survive.

After petitioning city residents, we presented to our city council about what we want to change in our city.

Seed bombs

We made seed bombs to help spread awareness about the decline of bees, while simultaneously promoting bee population growth. A seed bomb is basically a ball of soil, clay, water, and seeds. The idea is that people plant them in empty lots, undeveloped fields, or even their backyards so that flowers can grow, giving the bees more access to food. We used Smooth Blue Aster, Purple Prairie Clover, and Prairie Coneflower to make our seed bombs because they are native to Southern Alberta, and they would not be considered an invasive species.

We distributed seed bombs to members of the public and informed them about our project and the plight of the bees. Many people accepted our project and showed their support by signing a petition that supported urban beekeeping in Lethbridge, which is currently illegal.

Beekeepers Visit and Interview

Following this interview, we were able to get in contact with two urban beekeepers. They allowed two of our team members and an advisor to tour their beehives and to speak with them about their experience with urban beekeeping. The beehives were surprisingly inconspicuous. Both of their neighbours are aware of their beekeeping practice, and have not had any issues with the bees, observing they rarely notice them. The beekeepers did mention that with urban beekeeping, in comparison to commercial beekeeping, you must be “really diligent with hive management” in order to control swarms, which may instill fear in citizens. When asked about their speculations on why the bylaw may exist, the beekeepers (who asked to remain anonymous) reported a heavy stigma surrounding beekeeping, and a lack of education on the subject. They felt that legislators and the general public were uneducated, and therefore fearful of urban beekeeping. The beekeepers also provided some advice on how urban beekeeping could be successful in Lethbridge. They stated that beekeeping was so easy in B.C. due to the “excellent beekeeping community”. Based on their experience with beekeeping in B.C., they recognized that an essential service to facilitate urban beekeeping is a beekeeping club. This would help in a variety of ways. It would provide a source of information and support for new beekeepers, a collective organization to share tool, information, and expertise, and would also be a great resource for the government to fall back on in the case of a problem arising. They also mentioned that holding large-scale events such as press conferences may be counter-productive and further scare the community, and that it is more effective to educate people in small, more personal ways. They suggested beginning with those “who are comfortable and who understand” urban beekeeping. We took this into account with our human practices approaches, including the seed bombs and speaking to smaller groups rather than holding large presentations or events. Additionally, the beekeepers mentioned combining the more common gardening passion with beekeeping hobbyists, to create a partnership where both pollination and food sources can occur. We also asked them if they have experienced mites, and they stated that over their beekeeping career they have certainly experienced this, however it has not been an issue in Lethbridge thus far. We also asked them for their opinion on the feasibility and practicality of our project, and they raised concerns regarding contamination of the honey harvest. Specifically, there was concern over how the public would feel about the presence of oxalic acid in “honey, which is seen as such a natural product”. This is a factor which we have considered throughout the development of our project.

School Presentations

We presented to Grade 8. students at G.S. Lakie Middle School and Wilson Middle School in order to expand their interest in synthetic biology and iGEM. We started with a basic introduction to DNA and synthetic biology. This included an engaging experiment in which student volunteers assisted in the extraction of DNA from a banana. We also presented the biofilm and bee issues that we are tackling this year. The students were very interested in the presentations, and asked many questions. Some were even wondering how they could join the iGEM team. Overall, our presentation left a positive mark on the students.