Halifax Shopping Centre temporary home to thousands of honeybees

The Halifax Shopping Centre is buzzing — not with excitement over a new store or food court addition, but because of thousands of new tenants occupying the mall's rooftop.

Right now, the roof is home to more than 10,000 honeybees, and that number is only expected to grow, thanks to a new partnership with urban beekeeping group Alvéole.

"In peak season, it'll get upwards of [30,000] to 50,000," said William Adamski, the beekeeper for the Halifax Shopping Centre's recently installed honeybee hive. "Every three weeks, I come out, and I do a routine check."

Alvéole, which supplies educational honeybee exhibits, has had numerous instalments across the world, including in the United States, Europe and elsewhere in Canada. This is Alvéole's first year working in Halifax.

"We're just getting started in Halifax this year, so we've got about 25 hives that we've been installing over the last couple of weeks," said Dominic Lizee-Prynne, regional manager for Alvéole's beekeeping team.

Though the rooftop is closed to the public, shoppers are able to learn about honeybees through an interactive and educational display inside the mall that features a custom-built hexagon wall inspired by a hive.

Stephanie Schnare, marketing director for the Halifax Shopping Centre, said 1,000 packages of wildflower seeds will be given away in partnership with local shop Halifax Seed.

"Customers can stop by, pick up a package of seeds, and then take those home, plant them in their garden, and they might just see [a Halifax Shopping Centre] bee buzz on by," said Schnare.

Adamski said the rooftop beehive project is part of Halifax Shopping Centre's ACT (Always Consider Tomorrow) initiative, which focuses on environmental sustainability and accountability through creating a better relationship with the natural world.

The honeybees that call the mall's rooftop home will help support the growth of flora and fauna within the community by pollinating in the area, said Adamski.

Pollination is the process by which grains of pollen are transferred from one flower or plant to another. Pollen helps fertilize the plant, allowing it to develop seeds and produce fruit.

"Basically a third of what we consume today, pollinators are pollinating, so your berries and your fruit and some of the vegetables," said Adamski.

"Also they're not just pollinating for us, they're pollinating for the birds, [helping] the seeds and the nuts, so yeah, it's very vital."

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada estimated in 2017 that the total economic contribution of Canadian honeybee pollination is worth between $4 billion and $5.5 billion per year.

Adamski said a hive can produce more than 22 kilograms of honey in a season on average and a comparable amount is expected to be produced from the Halifax Shopping Centre hive.

"This hive will produce anywhere up to probably 30 to 60 pounds of honey, depending on how well the foragers are doing out there, how much nectar and how many resources they can find."

The indoor educational display will be removed July 31, however the bees will continue to produce honey and remain on the rooftop until September. After that, the honey will be harvested and donated to Feed Nova Scotia.

Lizee-Prynne said they look forward to the city learning more about honeybees through the Halifax Shopping Centre display as well as the other hives they've set up at businesses and schools around the city.

"We're hoping to grow over the year and over the coming year," said Lizee-Prynne. "So quite literally, we're bringing in almost millions of bees [to Halifax]."