Gardeners need bees to pollinate crops, and a single hive at Murrayville's Community Garden on Old Yale Road ensures that buds will bloom to fruition.
In the sweetest way, the hive also keeps Floyd Cochran's link to the 28.5 acres he sold to Langley Township in 1991.
In April, his daughter, Nancy Adams, gave him a beehive for his 70th birthday. The hive stands 50 metres inside the entrance to the gardens on Old Yale Road east of 224 Street, and not only helps nature but reminds him of the hobby farm he developed when he bought the land in 1968.
Sheltering the allotments is an old barn. Although its appearance shows it's a little worse for wear, the 75-year-old barn nevertheless remains useful as a storage facility for the gardens.
It was formerly used when the land had been farmed as a dairy operation, Adams said.
She says the family is delighted that even on its small scale, the community garden is continuing the farming tradition that has occupied that corner of Langley for decades.
A glance at the 27 plots reveals not only the obvious pleasure of those who tend them, they show that gardeners have pride by the shovel full.
"You can see the pride people have in their lots," Adams said. "And it makes your feel proud."