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“Beehive of activity” outside City of Lethbridge landfill

There are some sweet new visitors at the city’s Waste and Recycling Centre.

As part of an agreement with ECCO Recycling, the company that operates the Materials Recovery Facility, ten honey bee hives have been set up on the property.

Steve Rozee, Manager of the Waste and Recycling Centre, says it’s something ECCO does in other communities and they thought it was a great way to use the extra space here and at the same time promote some environmentally-friendly things. “These honey bees are doing very well. We anticipate they will produce around 25 kilograms of honey this year per hive, which could increase in years to come. This is just the start.”

ECCO Recycling also has a full-time beekeeper. The honey will eventually be processed, bottled, and is usually donated or given away. In Lethbridge, ECCO will keep half the honey and the other half will be provided to the City to be given away.

The ten beehives set up outside the landfill

The Waste and Recycling Centre is a perfect spot for having honey bees. It has a large grassy footprint which provides an environment where pollen and nectar can be easily collected.

Robert McBain of Worker and Hive Bee Supply in Calgary is managing the hives. He says these bees have a two to three mile flight radius so they’ll also help pollinate crops surrounding the landfill.

As for the positive impact on the environment, Steve Rozee says they are also able to use the bees as a way to open up important conversations with residents about the environment.

ECCO Recycling manages hives in six locations across Alberta. Those are in Aldersyde, Balzac, Dalemead, Mazeppa, Calgary, and now Lethbridge.

Patrick Siedlecki
Patrick Siedlecki
Pat has been a mainstay in the CJOC News department from the time the station launched in 2007. He's been in the position of News Director since then and has been anchoring daily news casts as well as reporting and working behind the scenes. Community is important to him and keeping CJOC listeners and readers informed about what's happening across southern Alberta and beyond. Pat has been in radio broadcasting for the past 24 years, starting in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in 1997 and then moving up island to Nanaimo for another few years before heading to Lethbridge in 2007. Pat grew up in the small Saskatchewan farming town of Foam Lake. After high school, he went to Western Academy Broadcasting College (WABC) in Saskatoon prior to moving to the island. Pat also spent several years broadcasting hockey in the BCHL as well as seven years as the radio voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL. Pat has been working at Cornerstone Funeral Home in Lethbridge as a Certified Life Celebrant and Funeral Assistant since 2016. News and sports have always been Pat's passion from the time he was a teenager and he's always been grateful to have had the opportunity to make that part of what's been a fun and long radio career!
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