Category — Uncategorized

Bill Picha supervises transfer of swarming bees to their capacious new hive.

(UPDATE, July 11: since this post, Mario Lee has advised that 311’s actions were consistent with the relevant protocols, but he’s not available to assist on weekends.)

My neighbourhood’s encounter with swarming bees this morning suggests the city’s 311 helpline still needs some tuning up.

The humming of the arriving swarm was audible inside the house at about 11 a.m. and pedestrians walking through the neighbourhood were scattering. There was a ball of bees the size of a World Cup soccer ball hanging from a nearby oak.

First call went out to Allen Garr: no answer.

Next we tried 311. Absolutely the city could help, said the affable 311 receptionist. He promptly put us through to the voicemail of Mario Lee, the social planner who wrote the report on city beekeeping. Not likely to find help there.

A quick check on Google turned up Bill Picha, a Delta beekeeper who picks up swarms at no charge when he can. (They’re valuable to him.) His voicemail box was full, but a text message brought him to our door in 30 minutes.

Fifteen minutes later, the swarm was beginning its move to capacious new quarters in Picha’s hive. Once they’re all settled down, he’ll pack them off to earn their keep elsewhere, perhaps a Fraser Valley orchard.

These are hectic days in the bee swarm pick-up business. Picha had 38 calls yesterday alone.

Where did these bees come from? Garr, who called later in the day, speculated they may be a colony that left the new hives on the City Hall roof. If so, they’re in the private sector now.

Some weeks at council are more productive than others.

By Tuesday evening, Vancouver City Council had completed an in-depth look at the environmental risks posed by massive increases in oil exports from the Port of Vancouver, approved a strategy to increase public safety during extreme hot weather and gave former Mayor Art Phillips the Freedom of the City.

(Apart from the glory that accompanied his appointment, Phillips received a scroll, a medal and a decal entitling him to free parking. Phillips was most appreciative of the decal, which replaced one apparently cancelled by former Mayor Sam Sullivan.) [Read more →]

Vancouver City Council today unanimously approved a study into future options for the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts, with the proviso that the project be phased to ensure good control over cost and scope.

All five speakers at council were in support of the study, for a range of reasons. Ultimately, however, said Strathcona resident and architect Graham Elvidge, the study should be about “people and community,” focussing on the potential for what many considered a “city-building” decision.

Even if council decides ultimately to keep the Viaducts, city staff believe the study will produce valuable new informatoin on traffic patterns and soil contamination. The work will also support ongoing reviews of upcoming developments in Northeast False Creek.

But if council decides it is feasible to go all the way and tear the viaducts down, False Creek resident Michael Alexander believes the city will be better for it, based on his experience in San Francisco.

Andrew Owen and politician at the new gallery wall between Woodwards' and the Cambie Hotel.

Vancouver artist Andrew Owen, who now has a show at the Marion Scott Gallery in Gastown, has taken over the walls of the old Slam Gallery, a two-story building attached to the side of the Cambie Hotel, for his very unique brand of public art.

Cambie regulars have enjoyed Owen’s work on the building’s Cordova St. frontage for years, but this month the public  gallery has been extended along the building’s long east wall, directly across from the new Woodwards’, where Owen and other artists, many from the Downtown Eastside, are displaying their work.

Much of Owen’s work is taken straight from the street, including the remarkable Brilliant Cut, a very large piece in the Marion Scott show that carves down through the multiple layers of street posters to excavate months of informal public art. [Read more →]