Urban beekeeping
Urban beekeeping can lead to higher yields in community gardens and boost the health of local flora.
Additionally, bees in urban settings often have access to a wide variety of plants and flowers, which helps produce unique, high-quality honey.
[3] Most cities in North America once prohibited the keeping of bees, but in recent years, beekeepers have succeeded in overturning these bans.
[10] According to a 2015 research study, urban environments have also been shown to favor viability and transmission of some disease agents that affect honey bees.
In 2017, the Detroit Hives nonprofit was founded with the mission to improve communities for people and pollinators, especially for underserved populations, by transforming vacant lots into urban bee farms.
This agency enforces a set of regulations surrounding the installation of a beehive in order to protect the health of colonies, but these rules are rarely restrictive enough to deter committed hobbyists.
[21] In the summer of 2014, the Accueil Bonneau homeless facility launched a pilot project introducing their itinerant community to the art of beekeeping as a means of re-engaging them in a fulfilling and meaningful hobby.
The movement towards generating local produce is part of the reason beekeeping is becoming increasingly popular in this metropolitan city.
Prior to being recognized by the city, urban beekeeping had become an established hobby, and a support network of organizations, blogs, and supply stores were already in place.
[25] While registering beehives is required,[25] as of 2012 only half of the 400 bee colonies thought to be situated on New York rooftops had been reported to the city.
[31] However, the rule has gone largely unenforced as few urban lots are spacious enough to meet requirements concerning proximity to property lines, dwellings, and highways.
[32] Some of the many Toronto landmarks that host honey bee hives include: the Fort York historic site,[33] the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts rooftop,[32] the University of Toronto,[32] the Amsterdam Brewing Company rooftop,[30] and the Fairmont Royal York hotel.
A large colony was found in the San Fernando Valley, some estimate it contained 8 to 10 tons of honey:[38]The hive is located in a rift which penetrates the rock to a depth of approximately 160 feet.
Certain parties have endeavored to descend to the immense store of honey collected by the bees, but were invariably driven back, and one man lost his life in the effort.In 1873, the Los Angeles County Beekeepers Association was founded.
[39] Kansas City and its surrounding suburban areas are home to a number of urban apiaries and backyard beekeepers.
[40] Hobbyists often learn best from one another's experiences in the field, and Kansas City has a robust community of urban beekeepers who communicate, educate, and gather with one another throughout the year.
[9] The density of hives in London is much greater than in other areas of the UK, and this has led to concerns that city green spaces may not provide sufficient forage to sustain growing bee populations.
[51] Urban beekeeping has been described as difficult hobby in İstanbul, which has fewer green spaces compared to other cities in Turkey.
[53] Hasan Efe from the Apiculture Research Institute stated that beekeeping in İstanbul's city center could harm the insects’ physiology, adding that gas from vehicles and environmental conditions can contaminate urban honey with heavy metals.
[53] These claims were challenged by some research centers that did not find significantly elevated levels of heavy metals in urban honey samples.
[64] [65] In a move to protect bees and promote a healthier urban environment, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has banned the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in parks and on roadside trees, replacing them with eco-friendly pest control methods.
[66] Urban beekeeping exists in many major cities and has been reported in: Berlin,[67] Hamburg,[68] Hong Kong,[69] Bengaluru (Bangalore), Melbourne,[70] Sydney,[71] and Tokyo.
