During the spring our grounds start to blossom again and with this long-awaited change in season creatures big and small start to stir from their winter hibernation. Families of spotted deer can be seen timidly crossing our grounds as they make their way to and fro from the Little Campbell River Stream that runs along the back of our property. Our cemetery is Surrey, BC has a wide variety of wildlife to observe. Robins do their dance around the lawns as they forage for worms. With the blooming of the flowers come the smallest of our animal guests, hummingbirds and insects. You can hear them buzzing as they float from flower to flower across our pollinator meadow.
Heritage Gardens Cemetery is tucked into a beautiful green belt in South Surrey, BC. As a sustainable cemetery, we strongly believe in environmental stewardship and this starts with caring for the nature that existed there before us and preserving it for future generations. This is due to our cemetery being one of two designated green cemeteries in BC. We have designed the grounds with these animals in mind every step of the way. From the responsible distribution of our groundwater to preserving natural and unmanicured portions of our grounds so that the animals that live there still have a natural environment to visit.
Our Heritage Gardens family would like to do everything we can to help sustain the beautiful nature that can be found at our Surrey cemetery and we know that helping to sustain the insect populations is an important part of this. That is why we have teamed with a local beekeeper to set up beehives on our grounds. The Honey Bee Conservancy suggests that setting up beehives and providing pollinator areas such as gardens and meadows will help the steady decline in the world bee population.
Bees are a vital part of our ecosystem. Their pollination not only allows flowers to grow it helps the growth of crops and they are an important source of food for many animals in the food chain. They help promote the growth of wild plants and trees which provide food sources and shelter for almost all of our animals here in BC. Bees are responsible for the production of many seeds, nuts, berries, and fruit, which serve as a vital food source for wild animals.
Bees have also served as a vital food source for humans. Their honey has been a staple for centuries and it is still an incredibly important organic food source for so many of us. The work that bees do has an effect on almost every part of nature’s food sources and bees have touched almost 1 in 3 items that we eat every day.
In May of 2019, we set up our first beehives. We were able to give away over 40 pounds of honey. Heritage Gardens is committed to continuing this work each spring and summer as a part of our holistic approach to sustainability. For more information about what makes Heritage Gardens a green cemetery click here.
