Webinar Recording Now Available: Beekeeping in Urban Ontario: Policy Meets Practice
Posted: November 29, 2012
Categories: Food in the News / GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Ontario / Research / Webinars
If you’ve visited the rooftop garden at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel or if you’re familiar with the Toronto Beekeeper’s Co-operative and the many bee hives they tend to at Downsview Park, then you may already know about that urban beekeeping in Toronto is alive. In fact, these hives have relocated over the years between Toronto and Guelph, and actually thrive best in an urban setting. However, there are some limitations to beekeeping in Ontario. If you refer to Section 19 of the Ontario Bee Act (1990), it clearly states that hives must be 30 meters from a property line adjacent to residential or communally used lands.
Yesterday, Sustain Ontario hosted a webinar for a group of Master of Science in Planning students at University of Toronto, who conducted a research project on beekeeping policy for urban Ontario. Their research explored the origin and rationale for the stipulation around Section 19 of the Ontario Bees Act (1990) as well as alternative approaches to regulating urban beekeeping from cities across Canada and the USA.
Mylee Nordin, beekeeper from the Toronto Beekeeper’s Co-operative, began the session with an introduction about the history of the Cooperative, including locations where beehives have been established in Toronto. She shared some of the challenges at these sites and considerations for beekeeping in urban settings.
After the engaging presentations, the group entered a lively Q&A session with webinar attendees. Have a listen – we hope you learn something interesting!
Or you can browse through the presentation slides.