This Art Project Wants to Make Auckland the Safest City in the World For Bees

Last year, three beehives were set up in Victoria Park. Not as some urban honey-making scheme, but as the beginning of a new living social sculpture that will pop-up in public spaces over the next two years. Ponsonby's Myers Park will be next to welcome buzzy new visitors.

For The Love of Bees is a collaborative art project that seeks to imagine Auckland as the safest city for bees on earth. With support from Auckland Council, and assistance from a collection of qualified bee enthusiasts and urban disruptors, artist Sarah Smuts-Kennedy started the project as research for her wider art practise around energy and to explore what's possible when a whole city is given a framework over a specific period of time.

It's a natural progression for Sarah, who labels herself a novice bee keeper and currently grows 90 percent of the vegetables and 70 percent of the fruit she eats. She is also known for her analytical art that seeks to ask and answer questions like, 'How do things work? and How will things work out?' As the facilitator of For The Love of Bees, Sarah intends to pose similar questions and seek collaboration to create an ecosystem that supports thriving colonies.

Griffiths Gardens, located at 42 Wellesley Street in the CBD, is the main hub of For the Love Of Bees. Since opening at the start of 2017, the site has served as a teaching hub for locals who are keen to discover more about the world for bees. Lunchtime Learning sessions offers free courses during the working week to educate spread innovative approaches to sustainability and bio-dynamic gardening.

Further interactive projects include everything from cycle tours around bee-friendly spaces to a bee school teaching natural bee-keeping practices and geometric plantings to make Auckland's landscape more beneficial to bees and wildlife.

Visit the For The Love Of Bees website for more information and to get involved.

Photo: David Cairns