Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Urban beekeepers may have very small backyards…
Extreme Urban Beekeeping means that the bee-human interactions are more likely
to occur than if you and your bees live in the country, suburbia, or small towns. Your
goal then, should you choose to accept it, is to minimize or eliminate these encounters.
Remember, there may be more people afraid of bees than you can imagine, but even
more think that what you are doing is fantastic.
Everything about keeping bees in the city or the suburbs is more focused, clearer,
dangerous, exciting.
… close to busy streets, and probably just off main thoroughfares so there's lots of foot
traffic during some parts of the day…
The fundamental good neighbor practices mentioned earlier—good fences; water
sources; neutral colored hives; using gentle bees; and temporary or permanent screens,
natural or manmade—still hold. But now the ramifications are greater if you don't. Bee-
keeping in a large city is likely to be more challenging than a typical country location.
…and just last fall this was all farm; there were no houses here at all, really…
What is Extreme Urban Beekeeping?
Extreme Urban Beekeeping encompasses many unique landscape and environ-
mental factors: neighbor next to neighbor (close enough to look inside each other's
windows), narrow lots, tall fences, garages tight to the house, older homes, lots
of good nectar-producing trees, small yards, tight landscapes, gates. Also to con-
sider: front porches and tiny back decks, multistory apartment buildings, entire
