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Urban Beekeeping in the UK

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beninak

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 22, 2007
385
1
0
Anchorage, AK
Heck, they probably pick up less pesticides than bees going out to pollinate crops.

That maybe true, and is another reason that I've been starting to avoid those types of varietal honeys.

However in a city like London they have alot more to worry about than pesticides. Air pollution, rampant public urination, and bees licking the bottom of a dumpster to get a sip of someone's leftover Pepsi are a few concerns that immediately spring to mind. How much of that contamination actually finds its way into the honey I'm not sure, but I'd be willing to bet it does result in a lower quality product than honey harvested in a rural area. Especially if, as you pointed out, it has been taken from bees that haven't been confined to a single food source on a commercial farm that uses pesticides.
 

Medsen Fey

Fuselier since 2007
Premium Patron
I'd be interested to hear from any urban beekeepers about the quality of the foraging available for the bees.

Apparently folks are keeping bees in NY city despite the fact that it is illegal. Rogue apiarists and their contraband honey - it sounds kind of exciting. I'd love to try some.

Interestingly from the article
outlawed in 1999, when honeybees were included on a health code list of more than 100 wild animals that New Yorkers could not keep, including vultures, iguanas, ferrets and even whales:

Keeping whales? It never occurred to me that this could be a problem. :rolleyes:
 

wildoates

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 22, 2009
2,373
4
0
Elk Grove, CA
Ummm...honeybees are a health hazard? Perhaps to the few that are allergic to them, but to most folks?

But I'd like to hear from some beekeepers about the likelihood of nasty stuff getting into honey, too.
 

akueck

Certified Mead Mentor
Certified Mead Mentor
Jun 26, 2006
4,958
11
0
Ithaca, NY
What's in the dumpster that is so bad? Even without pesticides, crops in rural areas are often sprayed with septic sludge pumped out of people's homes, not to mention the cow poo. Honey has been in a bee gut, after all, how much more icky does it get? We know the end-product is pretty devoid of flora and fauna (not counting the odd bit o' bee).

Then again, I dropped some turkey cold cuts onto the sand rafting last summer. I rinsed them off in the river and ate them. (I'm pretty sure I was upstream of most of the good pee spots, within a few hundred yards at least.) People thought I was odd, but so far no permanent damage. :tard:
 
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