The City of Lethbridge has made a sweet donation to the local Christmas Hope Campaign.
They’re giving 12 cases of honey (12 jars in each) which was bottled as part of a new project which got underway earlier this year.
A number of honey bee hives were set up at the City’s Waste and Recycling Centre which helped use up some extra space there and at the same time promote an environmentally-friendly initiative.
Centre Manager Steve Rozee says it was a great first year for this. “The bees production was a little under what it would be in a typical year going forward because they had to build their home. Honey production in Alberta this year was down, but they actually did well, producing quite a bit of honey in year one.”
The honey bee project is as part of a partnership between the city and ECCO Recycling, the company that operates the Materials Recovery Facility.
Danielle McIntyre with the Interfaith Food Bank says this is a unique donation and very welcomed too. She notes all these jars will be going directly into Christmas food hampers.
ECCO Recycling also has a full-time beekeeper. The company manages hives in six locations across Alberta. Those are in Aldersyde, Balzac, Dalemead, Mazeppa, Calgary, and Lethbridge.