I am lucky to have hives in both an urban environment, and in the country. It’s been a great way for me to learn more about honeybees. My home apiary (Elmwood Apiary) is in the city and my bees thrive! Last year I didn’t even bother to pull honey from my other apries because I got so much honey from my home hives. I usually run between 8-12 hives in my yard. I have what I call a “Bee ER” where I bring removals or swarms. I watch them for a few days or weeks and see how they do then I decide where they go from there. Sometimes I keep them and sometimes I move them to outyards.

The idea of keeping bees in backyards started in the 2000’s and was probably born from the “local food” movement and the food security movement in the 1990’s. Beekeeping became more popular after COVID as well. The bottom line is people want to a. know where their food comes from and b. want to be able to grow food for themselves when possible and c. want to connect more deeply to nature. Urban beekeeping is a way to do that!

My urban bees seem healthier than my “out in the country” bees and that observation is backed up by research. Best Bees discovered that urban beehives have a higher winter survival rate and not only that, urban bees make more honey and pollinate 8 times more species than suburban bees. Bees in suburban areas are often exposed to more pesticides than city bees. I find my country bees have less pollen variation (I can tell my color) and they don’t seem to make as much honey as my urban bees. They also do not increase as quickly as my urban bees.

How Urban Bees In Cities Help Us Thrive

1. Urban areas have a rich diversity of food sources for bees. City parks, downtown landscapes, playgrounds, median strips, and tiny gardens on high rise apartments offer bees and other pollinators lots of choices for forage. This keeps us planting for pollinators and helps us want to be outside enjoying the flora and fauna!
2. Urban beekeeping helps those in cities connect to nature. If you have never been in a beehive you don’t know how exciting it is to be connected to nature in this way! It’s a full sensory experience and it helps us be mindful and in the present moment. In loud, busy cities this feeling of calm and connectedness is something all humans could benefit from.
3. Beekeeping builds community! I moved to Chattanooga 6 years ago and it was really difficult to make friends. Since becoming a beekeeper I attend bee clubs, meet with other beekeepers and tour their apiaries, and I get to teach new beekeepers about bees! Now I am friends with gardeners, farmers, local nonprofit folks, small business owners, educators, and basically cool people that love these magical flying insects as much as I do!

4. A sense of awe. If you haven’t read the research on how awe can improve your health, you should. We all experience a sense of awe for big life moments-witnessing an act of kindness (someone risking their life to save a helpless animal), your kids first steps, when your dog comes over to snuggle in your arms to name just a few. “Awe” comes from paying attention. We can’t pay attention to what’s in front of us if we are mad, sad, angry, or worried. All of those things take us out of the present and we forget to stop and smell the roses. Bees can bring a sense of awe and that alone is worth it for my mental health, despite all of the other things I listed here. Bored? Sad? Angry? Always annoyed? Going through a transition? GET BEES!

5. A sense of calm. I just did a hive tour with a woman who sat in front of one of my beehives for about 30 minutes just listening. She said she could feel her body calming while she listened to the low hum of the bees and watched them go in and out of their hive. I told her thank you because she reminded me that when I am struggling emotionally, I need to remember to go listen to the bees. It genuinely lowers my heart rate (I have tested it) and blood pressure.

There are some things to consider when deciding to keep bees in an urban environment. I will write more about that later so sign up for future blogs if you’re interested! Thanks for reading. ~ Carmen