KITCHENER — The Kitchener Public Library's central branch is buzzing.

Thousands of honey bees housed in two hives have claimed the second floor green roof as their new home. They are visible from the windows in the teen section and local history room at the library.

"I come up everyday to look at them and see how they're doing," said Lindsey Skeen, manager of children's and teen services at the library and the person who spearheaded the bee project.

"Once you start to learn about the hive and how the colony works and operates, they're fascinating creatures."

The hives arrived a little more than a week ago and are part of the library's 85 Green initiative, which includes projects promoting nutritional literacy and sustainable communities. The honey bees, in particular, are meant to emphasize the role of pollinators and complement the youth programming underway at the library's new vegetable and herb garden in the Sheriff John Motz courtyard.

"The whole piece with the garden and with the bees is all tied into how things grow and how important pollinators are ... to our food supply," said Skeen.

And while Skeen admits the bees are sort of "flying under the radar at the moment," the library will soon have signage and educational displays set up near the hives to explain what bees do and how they do what they do.

The hives, in two blue wooden boxes, are sitting on white wooden pallets resting on the spongy green plants sprouting from the green roof. There are about 10,000 bees to a hive and a professional beekeeper is working regularly with the library to establish the hives, help them grow and make sure they like their new home.

While honey bees are quite docile — they rarely sting and only do so when their hive is attacked or they feel threatened — only the beekeeper will be allowed to get up close to the hives.

Everyone else can watch them closely through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the teen section. On bright sunny days the bees can be seen buzzing in and out of the hives. Sunshine is important because it acts like an alarm clock for the bees, explains Skeen.

To help the bees thrive, no honey will be harvested for the first year the bees are living at the library.

If you want to learn more about bees, you can register at the library to attend the free, Bees in the City Pollinator Night on June 18, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the central branch. In celebration of International Pollinator week, there will be three short films, guest speakers and presentations about pollinators. The event is being hosted by Bee City Kitchener and Bee City Waterloo.

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