Posted at 11:00 a.m.
As a child and even growing up, Marie-Anne Viau had a great fear of bees. Today, she wants to help them by practicing urban beekeeping, but above all by encouraging people to dot the city with flowers that will help pollinators.
Clover, sweet clover, agastache, aster, goldenrod, milkweed, serviceberry, cherry, these are the plants, trees and shrubs that provide bees with the precious nectar needed to make honey. Unfortunately, these so-called melliferous plants do not roam the streets enough in town, and especially in flowerbeds. This is also the case in certain countryside where monocultures reign.
“A classic jar of honey is more than 8 million flowers, notes the one who is a candidate for a master’s degree at the Institute for Research in Plant Biology. A hive produces about 25 kg of honey. You need some flowers. And in its lifetime, a bee will make 1/8 of a teaspoon of honey. So when you eat a spoonful of it, it’s like eating the work of eight bees. »
Over the past ten years, Marie-Anne Viau has become a great defender of bees, as well as other pollinating insects such as butterflies and wasps. “Basically, I was really afraid of biting insects, like a lot of people,” she admits. When I was young, I was playing hide and seek and I fell into a wasp’s nest. It traumatized me. »
Essential role
It was during a bioecology course at CEGEP that this urban agriculture enthusiast realized the incredible potential of bees and their essential role in the production of the food we eat.
The more we get to know pollinators, the less we see them as enemies or scary insects, and the more we see them as invaluable allies for our well-being.
Marie-Anne Viau, master’s candidate at the Plant Biology Research Institute
Since then, she has been trying to deconstruct people’s deep-rooted fear of biting insects. And not just bees. “It’s a bit our fault if the wasps are fat! she says. They are simply better adapted to their environment than bees. Instead of drinking nectar from the flowers as they usually do, they will drink from our beer and our soft drink. And instead of chasing insects, since there are fewer of them, they’ll eat our steak, because that’s what’s in abundance. »
Introduced to urban beekeeping by the organization Miel Montréal, of which she is now a member of the board of directors, Marie-Anne dives with her bare hands into the hives. She started a collective apiary at Cégep de Saint-Laurent and participated in the creation of several collective gardens on the island of Montreal. She is also one of the volunteer beekeepers at the apiary of Santropol Roulant, a community organization that uses food to strengthen bonds between generations.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARIE-ANNE VIAU
Marie-Anne Viau uses beehives to raise awareness.
The biologist is interested in both bees and plants because one does not go without the other. Over time, she understood that the development of urban beekeeping creates stress on the native bees already present in the city. “By adding more bees, we increase competition between local bees and our bees in the hives, and if we don’t increase the number of flowers, it becomes problematic. »
The solution does not only lie in the hands of the City of Montreal, which has also committed to protecting pollinating insects by participating in the Bee City Canada program, but also in those of all citizens.
We need to change mentalities. Instead of seeing dandelions, wild carrots and milkweed as weeds, let’s think of them as butterfly and bee plants.
Marie-Anne Viau, master’s candidate at the Plant Biology Research Institute
“Just changing our mentality on the usefulness of these plants will have an impact on the well-being of pollinators and therefore of our food, because it remains that one bite out of three on our plate is directly linked to the pollination,” she adds.
She invites people to leave dandelions, one of the first pollen-rich flowers to bloom in the spring, and to prefer native plants to exotic ones. She gives the example of English roses which have been modified in such a way that their nectar and pollen are not accessible. “On the other hand, a hardy rosebush with beautiful roses all open, that’s super food for pollinators. »
Cultivating honey plants will not be enough to counter the decline in bee populations, also threatened by neonicotinoid pesticides, but for city dwellers, it is an inexpensive and very accessible gesture.
Calling all
Do you know people who do inspiring things for the environment? People who have changed their behavior to minimize their ecological footprint?