Do you remember that Black Mirror episode on artificial bees? Although the episode was horrifying and bleak as it could be, it did a good job showing the outcome of bees vanishing from cities.
Bees, other than providing us that sweet and delicious honey, are also one of the most important pollinators in nature. While sucking nectar from flowers, they help species survive by pollination.
Not just the beautiful flowers that you see around, but vegetables, crops, and other important plants that rely on pollinators such as bees for reproduction.
However, unfortunately, their numbers are declining at an alarming rate in cities.
Given the rapid urbanization that has led to the vast loss of flora, this might look expected to many, however, what many don’t understand is that it also poses challenges for our various needs. Lack of pollination would affect agricultural yields, thus affecting economies. Moreover, fruits and seeds also promote other wildlife hence they too will be indirectly affected.
Urban Beekeeping: A solution to this crisis?
Urban beekeeping is the ancient art of breeding and sustaining bees in urban regions to promote urban ecology, often seen as compensation for the disturbance in ecology caused by urbanization.
Urban beekeeping comes as a rescue from this potential crisis. When people participate in beekeeping they also take good care of the surrounding plants and flowers, to ensure the health and survival of the honey bees.
What’s even great is that you get to harvest the purest honey right from its source! That’s right, with so much fake honey out there, it is hard to find pure honey, what would be a better way to get pure honey and also help your local ecosystem while doing so? Also, beeswax is another very useful commodity that has various applications often in many sustainable products.
If you are a farmer or a homeowner who doesn’t mind sparing some space for beehives, you can potentially benefit from this and also benefit your crops or other farm plantations that require pollination.
Overall, beekeeping can be a viable business as well as a very sustainable practice that would help your local environment. Don’t underestimate the power of bees, they can turn your locality into a vibrant tapestry of nature’s paintbrush.
