Halifax Shopping Centre becomes buzz-iest mall in town

HSC now has a rooftop beehive

CITYnews halifax \ Rafe Wright

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A new attraction at the Halifax Shopping Centre has the community buzzing with excitement. 

The mall has partnered with Alveole, an urban beekeeping organization, to open a beehive and introduce a colony to the roof of the building.

The idea has been in the works for over a year, said Stephanie Schnare, marketing director at the HSC.

“I had been chatting with a colleague in Ottawa who told me they had done a similar program at a shopping centre there, so they introduced us to Alveole,” said Schnare.

“We’d heard about hosting bees on our rooftop. It was kind of an underutilized space in the shopping centre, so we thought let’s do it.”

Last year, HSC launched the Always Considering Tomorrow, (ACT) program, which focused on ways in which businesses can support sustainability and help to protect the environment.

Opening a beehive on the roof felt very much in line with this initiative, said Schnare.

“The hives were installed in the spring and the honey will be harvested in the fall. All of the honey will then be donated to the local foodbank,” she said.

The aim of the project is to let the bees roam freely above the building to pollinate the surrounding area, supporting the growth of trees, flowers, vegetables, and other plants within the community.

“They’re just looking for a place they can work,” she said.

“They’re really focused on their task at hand. We’ve learned so much about bees, like how they operate amongst their colonies. It’s very interesting.”

The goal was also to educate people about bees and how important they are, she added.

“Bees can be a bit intimidating, but once you learn more about them, I think that fear that a lot of people have goes away.”

About 10,000 bees have been placed in the colony so far, said Schnare.

“We expect the colony to grow to about 50,000 by the peak of the season,” she said.

With that many bees flying around, precautions must be taken, said Schnare.

“We have a beekeeper to make sure they’re settling in and checking in to make sure everything is going well,” she said.

“They are very familiar with proactive techniques that they use to ensure the bees are fine.”

Because the space on the roof is limited, an indoor display is also available for people who would like to learn more about how bees colonize and produce honey.

“We wanted to make sure people had a way to interact with the bees inside the shopping centre, so we installed a beehive under the sky light,” said Schnare.

“There is also a garden space where people can take photos, and there is a beehive set up with no bees in it so people can touch and feel what it’s like.”

So far, the response has been very positive, Schnare said.

“People are very curious and feel very excited to be able to bring this experience to the community, to be able to entertain and to help educate.”

The beehive will be on display in the mall until July 31. The HSC plans to host several events featuring the bees, including giving away 1,000 packs of wildflower seeds to the public, in partnership with Halifax Seed, to encourage bees to pollinate.

“It’s such a great thing to teach people about bees, teaching people that they don’t want to hurt humans, they just want to kiss flowers and create more fruits and vegetables in gardens.”

An indoor display is also ava

The Halifax Shopping Centre has opened a new beehive on the rooftop to give back to the community. Contributed photo