Adventures in urban beekeeping: the sweet feats of the Toronto Beekeepers Cooperative: a unique partnership with a few hundred thousand honeybees is creating numerous educational and micro-enterprise opportunities in Toronto.

FOR MOST PEOPLE IN THE CITY, THE word insect has a negative connotation. Insects are generally associated with all things unpleasant: the annoying mosquitoes that steal blood and occasionally transmit West Nile Virus, the disgusting flies that feast on dog poo minutes before walking over someone's lunch, the ill-tempered yellow-jackets of late summer intent on disturbing the peace of a neighbourhood barbeque. But for members of the Toronto Beekeepers Cooperative and their partner organization, FoodShare, an insect is considered a friend: the hard-working honeybee has become the partner in an unusual urban agriculture project that provides a diverse range of benefits to the community.

FoodShare is a non-profit organization that works to improve access to affordable, nutritious food. In 2001, FoodShare's Urban Agriculture Program received funding from Heifer International, a US-based NGO that works on food security issues worldwide, to start a beekeeping project in the city. Part of the deal was that FoodShare "pass on the gift" to other community-based organizations by providing them with beekeeping training and a few start-up beehives. The Toronto Beekeepers Cooperative was formed in the fall of 2001 by some of …