Urban Beekeeping -
Feb 2, 2011 22:17:36 GMT -8
Post by clone on Feb 2, 2011 22:17:36 GMT -8
Urban Beekeeping
Urban beekeeping has been increasingly in the news since Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) started a few years ago. The real danger of CCD that can be predicted if bee numbers continue to fall is the effects on human food supplies. Bees are responsible for a large percentage of the foods humans eat through their pollination of flowers.
Lately many people have found, often to their surprise, that they can help restore bee numbers through beekeeping within an urban environment. It is not only possible, but it is already being practiced in cities such as Tokyo, New York, and Paris as recent news items have reported.
Not only that, the honey that is produced is of excellent quality and yield. This type of beekeeping has quietly become a minor movement worldwide.
Reservations about bees from people who live in cities close to bee hives are are understandable. However, honey bees are only aggressive in certain circumstances which can be easily avoided.
Nevertheless, permission of, or notification to a city council, or urban authority is often required before bee hives can be introduced within an urban area. Recently the rules in New York were relaxed to make beekeeping easier to do within the city limits.
Article:
ezinearticles.com/?Urban-Beekeeping&id=4697438
City Farmer founding director, Kerry Banks, wrote an article on beekeeping for our first issue of City Farmer Newspaper in August, 1978, titled "Outlaw Bees Keep City Blooming"
Chalmers himself profits from this side industry. He has a diverse and thriving vegetable garden with squash, melons, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, rhubarb, tomatoes, beans, turnips and corn. He grows lemon balm as well, because he believes that it has a slightly tranquilizing effect on the bees. (The herb's Latin name, Melissa officinalis, derives from the Greek word for "bee." Lemon balm has long been grown around hives to help prevent swarming.)
www.cityfarmer.org/VancBees.html
Urban beekeeping has been increasingly in the news since Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) started a few years ago. The real danger of CCD that can be predicted if bee numbers continue to fall is the effects on human food supplies. Bees are responsible for a large percentage of the foods humans eat through their pollination of flowers.
Lately many people have found, often to their surprise, that they can help restore bee numbers through beekeeping within an urban environment. It is not only possible, but it is already being practiced in cities such as Tokyo, New York, and Paris as recent news items have reported.
Not only that, the honey that is produced is of excellent quality and yield. This type of beekeeping has quietly become a minor movement worldwide.
Reservations about bees from people who live in cities close to bee hives are are understandable. However, honey bees are only aggressive in certain circumstances which can be easily avoided.
Nevertheless, permission of, or notification to a city council, or urban authority is often required before bee hives can be introduced within an urban area. Recently the rules in New York were relaxed to make beekeeping easier to do within the city limits.
Article:
ezinearticles.com/?Urban-Beekeeping&id=4697438
City Farmer founding director, Kerry Banks, wrote an article on beekeeping for our first issue of City Farmer Newspaper in August, 1978, titled "Outlaw Bees Keep City Blooming"
Chalmers himself profits from this side industry. He has a diverse and thriving vegetable garden with squash, melons, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, rhubarb, tomatoes, beans, turnips and corn. He grows lemon balm as well, because he believes that it has a slightly tranquilizing effect on the bees. (The herb's Latin name, Melissa officinalis, derives from the Greek word for "bee." Lemon balm has long been grown around hives to help prevent swarming.)
www.cityfarmer.org/VancBees.html