BUZZWORTHY

Sixty-six-year-old Julia Common squats and pulls out a wooden frame smothered with hundreds of wriggling bees. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to a swarm and I instinctively step back. Puffing another dose of sage and lavender-scented smoke at the squirming bodies, Julia reassures us: “The smoker cuts down their ability to communicate with each other,” explains the chief beekeeper at the Fairmont Waterfront, Vancouver. “The smoke isn’t hot; it calms them down.” Julia points to a bee away from the hive, vibrating gently. “The bum in the air