Beehive in Komoka, Ont. creating buzz for new initiative

Fields to Forks: 1Hive urban beehives A Komoka, Ont. business is hoping others will consider putting just one beehive on their property. CTV London's Marek Sutherland reports.

Komoka, Ont. — A collaboration between Neat Cannabis Company and BzzBox has led to the creation of an initiative called 1Hive.

“So we really wanted a clear line of sight of how to approach that to achieve a pay-it-forward initiative that was really meaningful in the community,” says Leeanna Newton of Neat Cannabis Company.

The solitary hive sits atop a small mound on an open area behind the company’s retail location in Komoka.

The initiative was born from growing public consciousness on bee security, and inspired by imaginative ideas in Europe.

“I heard about how there’s some cities in Holland that were turning their bus stops into bee stops, so they actually put green roofs on these bus stops to help repopulate the bees,” says Johnny Sikkema, founder of BzzBox.

The idea to put it behind the retail space for Neat Cannabis is to raise awareness, but will also have an effect on the community.

“Those bees in that colony will alone in our first hive will be about 35,000 to 40,000 bees, within one season that bee population will go out and pollenate up to eight billion trees, flowers, gardens, vegetables, in our community alone,” says Newton.

Beekeeper Dan Heffernen of Heffs Hives will look after the hive to ensure the health of the bees, and says he’s is a big fan of this idea

“1Hive at a time kinda mimics how the bees operate within the hive. One bee can’t make pounds of honey, but collectively, 1/12th of a teaspoon at a time, they make a good deal of honey.”

With the first hive in place, along with a sign explaining the project, interest for other locations is building in the area according to Sikkema

“There’s some interest for sure, and that is the goal, is to continue to grow the number of hives.”

Newton says this is the first beehive on a retail cannabis property, and has challenged others to follow suit.

“That’s sustainable, it’s very cost effective, for us to put one hive on here really only cost us about $3 a day as a company.”