About Hives For Humanity

Existing Projects in Vancouver

Hives for Humanity in Cathedral SquareDECEMBER 2016 PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Hives for Humanity is a non-profit organization that encourages community connections through apiculture, more commonly known as beekeeping.

Vision: Healthy communities connected through the culture of the hive.

Mission: We work to create transformative opportunities for people and pollinators. Through mentorship based programming we create flexible opportunities for people to engage in the therapeutic culture that surrounds the hive; we foster connectivity to nature and to each other; we participate in local sustainable economies; we support at-risk populations of people and pollinators, and we do so with respect and joy. We create a supportive and connected network, and offer opportunity for building self-worth and community pride, so that all may thrive. We connect people to nature, to community and to themselves, and we do it through the bees.

Values:

• Respect: We work with respect for each other, for our partners and participants, and for the bees; we offer dignity, equality and opportunity to all.

• Self-Worth: We foster self-worth in individuals, creating respite amidst chaos, and building pride through meaningful experience, ownership and connectivity.

• Inclusivity: Our community is built on diversity and inclusion. We collaborate openly, work in teams, and listen to every voice. Everyone is welcome, always.

• Education: We engage, inform and inspire people to connect with nature, with themselves and with their community; advocating for pollinators and their habitats.

• Trust: We build relationships on honesty and accountability, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of everyone we work with.

• Opportunity: We find and create spaces that provide opportunities for people, plants and bees to grow and thrive. We give people a reason to lift their heads up; we create hope where there was none before.

Beginning in 2012, with one hive of honey bees in a Downtown Eastside (DTES) community garden, Hives for Humanity has since grown to manage over 180 hives in communities throughout Vancouver.

Therapeutic Beekeeping Program with apiaries at: • Hastings Urban Farm, Hastings Folk Garden and Hugh

Bird Residence in partnership with the Portland Hotel Community Services Society

• The Lux Hotel, Budzey Apartments and Marguerite Ford Apartments in partnership with RainCity Housing

• Sorella House for Women in partnership with ATIRA Women’s Resource Society.

Each of these programs is designed in collaboration with staff and community members at each location, and responds to specific needs and opportunities in each place, with each participant.

Pollinator Corridor Project:

In partnership with other non-profit organizations, community gardens, schools and businesses, we are working to raise awareness about the importance of pollinators, to foster excitement about the opportunities we have to support them, and to connect community through this work.

Through community workshops, we have installed bee hotels and houses, along with pollinator friendly plants, into backyards, patios, rooftops, community gardens and parks. In doing so we’ve created patches of pollinator friendly forage and habitat, and also connected communities along the way.

Neighbourhood Honey Program:

The best way to learn to keep bees is by working closely with an experienced beekeeper. We love working with people, both individuals and families, to teach the art of apiculture.

We have hives in the backyards of individuals and families living in Strathcona, Commercial Drive, Main Street, Kitsilano, Hastings Sunrise, and Renfrew. In addition to our Hastings Therapeutic Apiaries, and Delta Country Apiaries, this is where our community profiled, incredibly unique and delicious, small batch extracted Neighbourhood Honey comes from! We sell it to support our Therapeutic Mentorship Programming in at-risk communities and to share the story of our work and share the joy of pure local honey.

Mentorship Beekeeping Program:

Our Mentorship Beekeeping Program reaches out to traditionally marginalized, hard-to-reach and at-risk individuals in the DTES, offering training, building skills, and, as always, fostering self-worth.

We facilitate this program through partnerships with other non-profit organizations and community groups, local businesses and neighbourhood honey gardens, who host our apiaries, gardens and workshops. We build inclusive spaces that welcome and support participation, and we identify individuals who are seeking opportunities, through conversation at various workshops (beekeeping, gardening, woodwork, wax crafts, honey extraction.) These individuals are supported in participating wherever they are at, with dignity, without judgment of any behaviours, and with the understanding that these behaviours are tied into trauma, poverty, addiction, mental health and systemic marginalization.

As we build relationships, we offer opportunities to participate in other workshops, in other locations, in other communities, building employability skills and stability through our mentorship.

We create bridges between communities through the bees, keeping apiaries and building understanding of people and pollinators, in partnership with businesses and organisations outside of our core work:• Science World• Vancouver Police Department• Big Rock Urban Brewery

Hives for Humanity in Cathedral SquareDECEMBER 2016 PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Beehives in Cathedral Square

Proposed Changes to Cathedral Square:

The Vancouver Park Board is partnering with the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA) and Hives for Humanity to bring honeybees, a pollinator garden, and ongoing garden workshops to Cathedral Square in downtown Vancouver.

The northern section of the site can be identified by six concrete pillars and a blue, lattice canopy. Changes coming to this area include community managed pollinator plantings in the existing garden beds as well as six beehives enclosed behind fencing. Hives for Humanity will be hosting regular work parties to educate about pollinators and to help maintain the garden. By Summer 2017, Vancouverites will be able to sample Cathedral Square honey!

This project supports the Park Board Biodiversity Strategy, Rewilding Action Plan, and Greenest City Action Plan by providing opportunities for environmental education and stewardship, and providing habitat for pollinator plants and animals in the urban landscape.

Hives for Humanity in Cathedral SquareDECEMBER 2016 PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Community Engagement

• Pop-up information booth in Cathedral Square

• Survey and information boards online

DECEMBER 2016

Design Refinement

• Layout and fence design for apiary

• Pollinator plant selection and layout

SPRING 2017

SUMMER 2017

Garden Clean-up & Hive Installation

Ongoing Work Parties& Workshops

What Else Would You Like to See in Cathedral Square?

Next Steps

• Community work party to prepare beds and install pollinator plants

• Beehives and fencing installed

• Ongoing community work parties in the garden

• Beekeeping workshops & mentoring

WINTER 2017

Vancouver is a different city than it was when Cathedral Square was first built in the 1980’s and the demands on our public spaces have intensified. The Park Board wants to develop new initiatives for this space that support the interests of the current residents and visitors to the downtown. In the summer of 2016 the Park Board partnered with the DVBIA, and organizations surrounding Cathedral Square to temporarily install colourful bistro tables and chairs and a “Keys to the Streets” piano. These initiatives will return for the summer of 2017, along with the new Hives for Humanity Pollinator project. In addition to these exciting changes we want to hear your thoughts on Cathedral Square in general and what other programming you’d like to see in the future?

Some Existing Suggestions Include:• Outdoor lectures, concerts, theatre• Ping-pong tables• Fitness classes (yoga, bootcamp, tai chi)• Outdoor library

Let us know what you think of these or suggest your own ideas, by filling out a survey on-line!

Hives for Humanity in Cathedral SquareDECEMBER 2016 PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT