Urban beekeeping involves making honey at home, right in the city!
This phenomenon is becoming more and more popular in urban centers because of the many advantages; city honey is “km”, which is an Italian way of saying locally produced, and honey happens to be healthier. Researchers have shown that one of the main causes of the increasingly massive disappearance of bees is because of the use of chemical pesticides used in crops in a farming – intensive environment, which instead are not used in the city! In a farming intensive environment, bees do not have access to as many plant varieties as they do in an urban setting. Not having many different plants to gather from can cause them to have nutritional deficiencies. Just like us humans, bees need a variety of different flowers to keep a healthy, balanced diet.
If you’re worried about pollination, you should be happy to know that bees avoid contaminated flowers thanks to a sixth sense, which ensures honey of excellent quality both for them and for us. What’s more is that hive management helps raise awareness of these important pollinators, encourages the use of honey and helps educate children. These “newbee” beekeepers often remain fascinated by the complex world of bees and begin to care for them more and more.
The approach to these insects is another aspect to consider. Few people know that unlike wasps, (that can sting hundreds of times) bees can use their weapon only once because they die right after stinging. Therefore, bees sting only if necessary and if they feel threatened. If you do not bother the fuzzy black and yellow pollinators, they will not sting you.
Urban beekeeping is present in many cities: New York, Tokyo, Copenhagen, London, Berlin, but also becoming more and more popular in Italian cities! It’s taking root in cities like Rome, Turin, Udine, Bologna and the biggest advantage is that anyone can become an urban beekeeper!
This is why we have designed the b-box, to help new beekeepers get started.