Buzz Spreads On Urban Beekeeping

Aug. 13, 2010— -- It's already hot on a recent Sunday morning -- just after 7 a.m. -- and while many New Yorkers are still sleeping, Vivian Wang inspects her two beehives on the balcony of a Manhattan apartment.

Across the river in Brooklyn, David Glick tends his two hives in a shady backyard after a full day's work as a paralegal. As neighbors fire up their grill for dinner, Glick sweats inside his beekeeping suit examining row after row in the hives.

Wang and Glick are not alone: Urban beekeeping is on the rise. With widening attention on environmental issues like food sources and bees' health, more city dwellers like Glick and Wang believe beekeeping is worth the effort and the occasional sting.

"It's not for people who are lazy," said Glick. "You have to do inspections and do work on it. But it's much less work than a dog and much less work than a cat."

Earlier this year, New York City repealed a ban on beekeeping after the city's health department ruled that honeybees were not public health risks.

Interest in beekeeping jumped. The New York City Beekeepers Association had some 70 students for a spring 2009 course on urban beekeeping. One year later, the organization, which Glick and Wang are both part of, had 220 attendees.

"I think that many people are interested in urban beekeeping because it allows them to connect to nature," said founder and president Andrew Coté. "It allows them to contribute to their community. It encourages urban gardens, community gardens to flourish. And I think that it's a wonderful way to be close to nature."

There are now 38 registered honey bee hives within New York City limits, according to July statistics provided by the city's health department. But Coté says the real figure is probably a lot higher. He estimates there are between 200 and 300 hives tended by 150 and 200 beekeepers.

As beekeeping gains popularity, even the city that once forbade it is now getting into the act. The Parks Department is planning to put two hives on the roof of its Central Park headquarters within the next three weeks. "The Parks Department is proud to welcome honeybees to the Arsenal roof," New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said in a statement. "As New York City's #1 pollinators, bees help increase the quality and the quantity of plants we have all around the city, from helping veggies in Community Gardens produce seeds for future plantings to helping wildflowers and trees reproduce, to producing sweet treats like honey, in addition to wax and propolis."