Building Bee Hotels

Club member Bob opened up his workshop this past Saturday for the club to make bee hotels.

Armed with wood from an old project, and advice and blue print plans from Hal Hopkins, members went to town with the power tools!

Everyone had a great time. When the storm clouds did start to roll in, the builders moved the party into the garage for Rickie's lemon squares and tea and coffee.

It was hard work, but overall a lovely afternoon.

Photos by Erica.

(Above right: A finished bee hotel -- ready for local native bees to check-in!)

(Below: Garden Club builders hard at work.)

Edmonton Seedy Sunday 2017

It might not look like spring outside, but there's definitely excitement in the air: this weekend is Edmonton Seedy Sunday! 


Seed Swap, free demonstrations and speakers... plenty, whether you're looking for inspiration or instruction! 


Visit the Edmonton Seedy Sunday website for details on demos, speakers, and vendors and the Edmonton Seedy Sunday facebook page for event updates.

‘Bee hotels’ give solitary pollinators rooms of their own

Excerpt from the article Margaret shared at the August meeting (click on the link to see full article and video):

‘Bee hotels’ give solitary pollinators rooms of their own
Madeleine Cummings, Edmonton Journal 07.19.2015

The “hotel,” which was attached Monday to a tree on the Edmonton Community Foundation’s downtown grounds, is made of wood and hollow bamboo stems. It has about 200 cylindrical holes, where solitary bees can lay eggs.

Unlike honey bees, which live communally in hives, solitary bees live alone, but still need safe spots to stash their eggs. Normally, bees find sheltered nooks and crannies in trees or underground, but these have become scarce in Edmonton and other cities across the country.

For All to Enjoy

“I do not understand how anyone can live without some small place of enchantment to turn to.”

— Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Did you know the Highlands Garden Club maintains a native plant garden?  The small plot is located on the southern end of Highlands Park.  Members have been slowly adding to the collection, with a Joe Pye Weed plant being one of the most recent. Come visit and you may even find some native bees in action! 

The Community Garden in front of the Community Hall is also home to many interesting flowers and insects.  Come by at different times of day and marvel at the differences!   

Club Members weed and maintain this garden and other plots throughout spring, summer, and autumn.  If you see us out there please say hi - we'll gladly talk to you about plants!

Note: These spaces are meant for the enjoyment of all - please do not pick the flowers, take the plants, or leave any litter.  With these in mind, we'll have a little place of enchantment to share. 

Neighbourhood Walkabout - June's Meeting

It was a lovely night for a walk so Erica and I took the Garden Club meeting outdoors into the neighbourhood for a walkabout.

Immediately, we could see the Club's hard work paid off: the community garden looked great! Purple irises, pink and white daisies, blue perennial cornflowers, along with the last of the yellow Icelandic poppies made a colouful display.

Happy bees circled the blooms and had the two of us snapping away.

Janis Irwin, NDP Candidate for Edmonton Griesbach, found us thus, and joined us to admire the garden.  She was impressed and thought it was great for the Club to maintain this for the community.  

Erica and I went next to Highlands Park to check on the planters.  They were showing good general growth (pink columbine, yellow day lilies, and lilies in bud), but also bald spots that could use some care.  

We continued our walk into the neighbourhood and was admiring the diverse gardens so close by.  One house in particular was luscious in the shade. As we leaned closer to look in, one of the owners hard at work noticed us and offered a tour!  

The other owner and their two dogs soon joined us and we chatted about plants, gardening, and urban bee keeping until the mosquitoes drove us away.

The neighbourhood tour certainly had us inspired.  So, whose garden is next?  

YEG Urban Beekeeping - Guidelines are here

Ready to keep bees?

Last month the City of Edmonton amended bylaws to allow for urban beekeeping.  The how-to on becoming an urban beekeeper have also been updated!  Below is an excerpt from The City of Edmonton's Urban Beekeeping page:

Steps to becoming an urban beekeeper

Step 1: Review the City's Beekeeping Guidelines
It is important to understand the commitment and responsibilities required to become a successful and safe beekeeper. The Urban Beekeeping Guidelines help residents understand the expectations that the City has for beekeepers. Interested beekeepers will also benefit from connecting with the beekeeping community and talking to existing beekeepers to learn more about what it takes to keep bees in the city.

Step 2: Register with Alberta's Premises Identification Program (PID)
As part of the Animal Health Act, owners of bees must have a premises identification account and premises identification number for the bees. This requirement is a part of a traceability system designed to address potential threats of disease outbreaks that could affect animal health, public health and food safety.

Step 3: Register with the Provincial Apiculturist
As a part of the Bee Act and Regulation, beekeepers must register with the Provincial Apiculturist every year by June 30.

Step 4: Apply for a beekeeping license
Using the online request form, apply for a license with the City. Be prepared to provide information about your beekeeping site, your training and your mentor if you are a first time beekeeper.

Turns out, our friendly neighbourhood permaculturalist and beekeeper, Dustin Bajer, also hand makes hives. Full details at in this Metro article.

With all the bylaw information now released: Are you considering keeping urban bees?  

Spring Blooms!

Tulips and daffodils are only barely poking out of the ground, but there are other flowers already in bloom!  I visited Margaret's garden to see some of them in full colour. 

Little bulbs with big impact

Iris riticulata 'Harmony', a bulb iris, is a familiar (if scaled down) bloom on 10 cm stems.

Galanthus (Snowdrops), (with Stardust fame) come in various sizes.  This one is only 10 cm tall.

Iris riticulatus 'Harmony'

Galanthus (snowdrops)

Scilla siberica or Squill are dainty, delightful, and a true blue!  

Scilla siberica (Siberian Squill) in bud.

Scilla siberica (Siberian Squill) in bloom.

Margaret had two different colours of Glory of the Snow Chionodoxa. 

 Chinodoxa luciliae (Glory of the Snow)

Chionodoxa (Glory of the Snow)

Crocus

Crocus also makes an early appearance (though unlike the rarer fall-flowering one, also has leaves).

Perennials and Native Bee-uties

Pulmonaria (Lungwort) and Hepatica (Liverleaf) are both perennials.  But only the later is native to North America. 

Pulmonaria (Lungwort)

Hepatica (Liverleaf)

The "Hungarian violet" and Viola Tricolor (Johnny-Jump-Up) are prolific seeders (and likely to survive our winters), so even though they're pretty, they're also weeds!

"Hungarian Violet"

Viola Tricolor (Johnny Jump Up)

My favourite of the day (and perhaps also for the bees -- look closely, there's one there!), is the Native Prairie Crocus (Pulsatilla).

Pulsatilla (Native Prairie Crocus)

What's blooming in your spring garden?

A Sweet Endorsement!

Edmonton's Urban Bee Keeping Pilot Project has been a success!  The city is abuzz as the recommendation to expand the program has been given to city councillors.  Read more at MetroNews "Edmonton councillors to look at expanding backyard bees city-wide."

The Buzz at YEG

The City of Edmonton has started an Urban Beekeeping pilot project!

Special permission is being granted to a select number to keep beehives in their backyard. 

Interested in helping out our buzzing friends and ensuring we all have plenty of pollinators? Check out the details and apply at the City of Edmonton's webpage.

Weeding and Wine - July's Meeting

Lori, Janice, Audrey, Debbie, Erica, Lana, Laurel, Gisele, and Johanne weeded away in the community hall garden yesterday, as the sky threatened rain.  

  

Our massive clean out of bags and buckets of weeds filled Debbie's truck!

The bees seemed indifferent to all our hardwork.  But we basked in after-weeding glow, knowing our  garden had a bit more order and some room to breathe. 

The meeting continued at the gazebo with treats and wine.  We shared some gardening tips and continued to plan for our late summer event.  Stay tuned!