Brian Hamlin, UTSC’s resident beekeeper and a regular vendor at the UTSC Farmer’s Market, explains the nature of the beekeeping process and the role of bees in the maintenance of a healthy ecosystem, as well as the benefits of keeping apiaries on campus. Currently, the campus houses ten hives on the rooftop of the Kina Wiiya Enadong (formerly Management Wing) Building.
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0:02
Well, 40 years ago, I was what was called a back-to-the-lander. So I was living in the Ottawa Valley with my brother and some other friends.
0:11
We bought a hundred acres, so we were living off the land, meaning that we were growing our own food and building our own buildings. We built log buildings and whatnot without electricity, without running water and all of that.
0:25
So it [beekeeping] was a natural fit. I knew a few friends that were beekeepers, people that I’d met, and the year before I started keeping bees, I went and spent time with them and decided that I thought it was something that I would be interested in. So I started as a way to help produce some food and to help pollinate.
0:43
This is my 40th year keeping bees. So I started this project six years ago. So I’d been keeping bees for 34 years but I’d kept bees for 30 years outside the city.
0:52
Just quietly, just a few hives, and then after 30 years I realized I haven’t been actually sharing this joy and passion that I have. So I started bringing hives into the urban environment of Toronto and
1:04
First Nations communities as well. So I started my first project in the city, in Toronto, at Toronto Island. So later, I was at St. George campus at New College rooftop and the Toronto Portland’s area and then this project came later.
1:18
Because working with bees, and if you meet other beekeepers you may notice similarities, it connects you to nature. When winter’s finishing, your eyes start looking for things
1:28
like willow. So you become very in tune to what’s happening in nature. Willow’s one of the first things that comes out, dandelions,
1:33
all those flowers. You’re aware that this is the beginning. The queen will start laying eggs in late February, early March.
1:42
The new generation of bees will be developed in time for the spring to come to start harvesting pollen.
