Taking Care of Bee's Nests

And we bee-n taking care of bee's nests (every day)
Taking care of bee's nests (every way)
We bee-n taking care of bee's nests (it's all mine)
Taking care of bee's nests and working overtime

(Altered version of lyrics to "Taking Care of Business" by B.T.O, 1973.)

This TNT began years ago when I dated a young woman who was an entomologist and an apiarist.  She studied and collected bugs with the most amazing beetle and butterfly collection you could ever imagine, plus raised honey bees.  We would work together on the hives, moving them from location to location throughout the growing season, extracting honey from the boxes, cleaning them and caring for the bees.  I have also had the privilege of seeing and or collecting five swarming colonies over the years, which is a rather unique natural spectacle.  I've only ever been stung by honey bees twice and both times were while gardening and pressing up against a flower that contained a bee at work collecting pollen or nectar.  In working the bee hives, I never wore a bee suit or hat, only using a little smoke and slow movements to keep the bees calm.

Several years ago in the fall I was driving in Clayton, Surrey when I noticed a vacant property with 120 bee boxes placed in an empty field that had no house or outbuildings.  I went back several times to investigate what looked to be a flat-bed semi-truck full of beehives.  Eventually they had winter covers placed on them to keep in the warmth and keep out the rain so I knew they were being cared for and not just dumped.  This spring I began to see multiple properties in south Surrey where the houses and structures had been removed for development but bee boxes had been brought to the land.  Many of these were easy to spot as they had the same signage posted on their front gates with the address, private property, no trespassing, no dumping and video surveillance written on them.  Then came the day me and a buddy went for a walk behind the Everall pump station onto a property that runs along Oxford St. north of Thrift Ave.  I actually thought this area belonged to White Rock and was surprised to see an apiary yard with multiple bee boxes in a fenced enclosure, a new gravel driveway and a sign that read "Caution, Active Beehive, Do No  Enter." 

Installation on Oxford Street/White Rock

I asked WR Sun editor and WR Councilor Dave Chesney if he had heard any buzz on the street about them and he was as surprised and perplexed as I was about this bee yard.  It was a few weeks later when I drove down Oxford St. and noticed the development sign for the property.  It was then that I started to suspect the beehives might be on site for the owners to claim farm status for the property and enjoy much lower property taxes.  What made this really strange is that the City By The Sea does not have any farmland due to its small size and high density nature, making me wonder how you could apply for farm status in a place that did not have any?  Well Mr. Chesney started asking questions about the presence of the bees and their purpose, inquiries were sent to the owners and property manager and shortly afterwards the beehives disappeared with the bee yard now sitting empty.  Armed with the address, I went onto B.C. Assessment registry and discovered that the property is 1.75 acres in size with a land value of approximately $43 million dollars.  It is zoned CD-46 Comprehensive development with two towers of 21 and 24 stories and 246 homes that was to have been completed in 2025.  From the sign it looks like the Development Permit that had already been extended expired in February 2026.

So this is where this TNT starts to get interesting.  While on the BC Assessment website, I started entering the addresses of the seven different addresses in Surrey I had noticed with beehives on them.  The one in Clayton with the truck load of bees is 4.6 acres and it is valued for tax purposes at $8,400.  The South Surrey properties with no homes had land assessments from $10,700 for 6 acres, $4,100 (down from $11 million in 2023), $3,990, $3,190 (down from $2.47 million in 2023 for 2.5 acres).  Of the two properties with homes, one dropped 90% in value last year from $14.6 million to $1.5 million for 6.8 acres, with the other dropping 100% in value in 2023 from $10.9 million to $39,000 of which $7,700 is the value for the 3.7 acres of land.  The BCB Honey Farm told me that if you have beehives and produce $2,500 in yearly income, you can apply for farm status for your land through B.C. Assessment.  Some of the hives I saw on these development sites had the logo for the Honey Bee Centre in Cloverdale but calls to them with inquiries about the topic of having commercial hives on empty lots were not returned.

It turns out that the Honey Bee Centre played a pivotal role in a decision by the Property Assessment Appeal Board in 2019 regarding farm classification for apiaries. In March of 2020 the BC Honey Producers put out an update on "classification of certain lands used for apiculture as farm for land taxation purposes."   A finding was that leased, non-ALR land is allowable for Farm Class if it is 1) a bee yard, 2) buffer around the bee yard, or 3) land that makes a contribution that is reasonable and more than minuscule to a bee farm operation."  Most importantly, the board ruled "use of the land determines farm status and the municipal zoning for land use (residential, commercial, etc.) has no bearing.  In layman's terms, if you have bees, you can apply for farm status under BC Assessment that overrules any land use zoning by the city or municipality.  Of the four Surrey properties also listed in this ruling, they are priced at $29,500 for 21.2 acres, $10,500 for 7.5 acres, $809,000 for 4.6 acres (down from $2.6 million in 2025) and $3.7 million for five acres, with the Surrey Cosmos photo showing multiple bee hive boxes on the property.

It would appear that this decision created a loophole where growing bees can not only be lucrative for honey but also for saving money, changing land zoning to farm status and vastly lowering the price to be paid for property tax.  This seems to have now become a regular way of doing business, or should I say "bee's nest."  Judging from the identical driveway signage, four of the properties in south Surrey with bees on them are owned by the same person or company.  They are likely cashing in from a huge property tax discount while waiting to break ground on their properties.  I will be bringing this situation up with Surrey City Hall and supplying them with the addresses involved in this scheme.  I cannot begin to imagine how much tax income cities across B.C. are losing to this sweet set-up?  As somebody who has raised bees before, I'm also wondering how many bee hives it would take on my quarter acre residential lot in Crescent Heights so that I would be able to apply for farm status?  I bet I could lower my property taxes to below $500 if this is actually possible.  No matter what, I'm sure this news will get my neighbourhood buzzing.

Here are links to the 2019 BC Assessment Appeal decision and 2020 update from the B.C. Honey Producers for more historical context.

https://decisions.assessmentappeal.bc.ca/Decisions/Dfull/dec_2018-14-00023_20181826.asp

https://bchoneyproducers.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Farm-Classification-Update.pdf

City of White Rock / Council Rewind

Council last evening (Monday) approved the following:

Temporary one hour patio hours extension for Three Dogs brew pub in Miramar Plaza. The patio will be now open until 10 pm 4 nights a week

Temporary 3 year license for Day Care establishment on Stayte road @ 991 Stayte

Reduced funding for 6 community garden boxes on city owned property next to Hogg Park on Buena Vista avenue. Community organizations like Rotary Clubs and Mens Shed will be encouraged to participate

Feasibility study for a needs assessment on all weather facility for pickleball in White Rock. White Rock Pickleball club will share 50% of the costs for the assessment

Council in a 4-3 vote reaffirmed its desire to revise some aspects of the current Official Community Plan. Staff had points clarified in the redistribution of density in the original community plan. In order for staff to accomplish this request additional funds for a consultant was approved.

Councillors Lawrence/Cheung and Mayor Knight voted against the revision of the Official Community Plan

Final reading of the Property Tax was passed 4-3. An annual increase for 2026 approved at a rate of 5.04%

Councillors Bains/Manning/Trevelyan voted in opposition

Council received an update from staff on the slimmed down plans for Sea Festival this year. With the Semiahmoo First Nations pulling out of the festival the annual summer event diminished considerably. It was decided this would be a one year trial period for 2 days and following this years event it will be revisited whether to proceed with a 2 day event or to cut it back to just one day.

WHITE ROCK'S NIGHT MARKET RETURNS MAY 1ST

Check out Langley's FARM COUNTRY BREWING'S commemorative Pier City Lager.

Friday Nights On The Promenade in Memorial Park

Food trucks, local makers, and good company by the pier.

Other dates - June 5/July 17/Aug 17/Sept 04

Tuesdays:          Women's Night starts on 12th May
                          Events: 4:30 to 6:00 (Helen and Lynda)

              6:00 to 7:30

 Wednesdays:    Men's Night Starts on 6th May
                          Events: 4:30 to 6:00 (Jiwan and Kevin)

                          6:00 to 7:30

                   
Thursdays:         Mixed Night Starts on 7th May
                          Event: 6:00 to 7:30 

IMPORTANT NOTICE RE SUMMER TOURNAMENT - We have had to change the tournament dates to June 12/13/14, 2026.  Similar to last year's Spring Tournament, it is intended as a FUN event to launch our summer pickleball season.  More information regarding the tournament will be forthcoming from your Tournament Director, Peter Hucul.