Mid-November, I attended the two-year anniversary of an ingenious Montreal-based company called Alvéole. At its heart is the goal of reconnecting people to local food production. They install beehives on rooftops, maintain them and harvest honey in some of the most active neighbourhoods of the city, demonstrating with ease what it is like to initiate an innovative, sustainable enterprise whose process offers sweet returns.

In his hosting speech, co-founder Alexandre McLean shared interesting insights into benefits of beekeeping. Due to the pollinating assistance of these insects, an Alvéole client was able to obtain seven times more raspberries in her garden throughout the season. Seven times. Can it get more exciting than that? I spoke with Alexandre Ferrari, who is working with the founders on an important new addition to Alvéole's range of services: complete rooftop gardens. We talked about productive food systems, honey making and the various ways Alvéole plans to reconnect individuals to nature.