Charlottetown demonstration beehives 'a really meaningful project'

The air was buzzing with excitement when Shallyn Murray, Silva Stojak and Brodye Chappell stood around the four-metre, hive-like structure at Charlottetown's Legacy Garden.

Soon, it will be a hive, buzzing with bees.

The structure is the first of several that will house beehives as part of the Urban Beehive Project, created by architects Murray and Stojak.

"The goals of it are really to promote awareness of the importance of honeybees and sustainability and food security," said Murray.

"What we wanted to do was make demonstrational beehives in downtown Charlottetown, so that people could come and get educated about beekeeping and how important bees are in our community."

'Creature-like' structures

Murray said the hexagon-shaped structure was designed to get people's attention.

"It kind of transformed to be creature-like, we wanted it to have a personality," she said.

Brodye Chappell, owner of Brodye Chappell Builds, does a lot of custom work, but says this project is one of a kind. The structure has taken him a few months to complete, but he says he's looking forward to making the next one.

"I know the second one is going to be a lot faster," said Chappell.

"I'm excited because each one is going to be a bit different, so it's always a challenge. I love that."

Watch the bees at work

The structure has small Plexiglass windows and a door. Inside will be a beehive with two Plexiglass sides so people can see the bees at work.

Murray said they won't be flying around within the structure, they will enter and exit from their hive into the outdoors through a hole near the bottom.

Murray said bees are very important on the Island, so they wanted to educate people and get them involved. 

"We are an agriculture based community. We really rely on bees to pollinate all of our crops," she said.

There will be an even taller structure added this year, then two more the year after.

Six hives planned, for now

Murray explained that after a year bee colonies split, so each year they will keep adding structures to house them. She plans on going for three years, so six structures in total, but it is possible the project could continue beyond that.

We don't often get to do fun projects or things that make a difference in the city.- Shallyn Murray

The honey made by the bees will be donated to the food bank and soup kitchen.

"We wanted to involve the community as much as possible, we're not interested in selling the honey, Murray said.

"This is a really meaningful project for us. We don't often get to do fun projects or things that make a difference in the city so this has been really important for us."

The bees will arrive next week. Murray said people are free to check the structures out, but the grand opening with both structures will be in mid-August.

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