In an article posted on RISMedia, John Voket shares that according to a report by the United Nations, over 70 of the 100 crop species which provide 90 percent of the food worldwide are pollinated by bees. An implication of this is that, minus the beekeepers who sustain and protect hives, the environmental balance for the whole world will be put to great risk.
Several years ago, Nicholas Hunt reported in the Washingtonian that other than the honey they provide, honeybees are of primary importance. The USDA revealed that one of three bites of food people eat is the result of honeybee pollination. The United Nations also estimated that from that time alone, honeybees are already creating $200 billion dollars worth of work every year. The disappearance of these honeybees has then caught much attention, leading to the increase in urban beekeeping.
Dr. Jeff Pettis, research leader at the USDA's Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland commented that, "We were losing a third of the nation's honeybee hives every year for five consecutive years. With all that attention, backyard/urban beekeeping has just exploded."
This prompted communities in the entire country, specifically in dense urban areas, to loosen up their regulations and allow homeowners to come up with and maintain beehives.
While people in the city do have their beehives, a great challenge for them is how to make the necessary precaution so that the bees do not become a problem or nuisance to their neighbors. Only a few communities restrict beekeeping nowadays, with many places having their "nuisance laws." Still, other communities put practical policies such as a limit on the number of beehives and the requirement for these beekeepers to provide water for the bees.
A third generation beekeeper, Zan Asha, advises that anybody who is interested in beekeeping should refer to many books, attend beekeeping classes, or watch videos covering everything they need to know, from bee behavior to harvesting of the honey. This is to caution young beekeepers who are into it just because they find it new, green and trendy, but do not have any knowledge on how to take care of bees.
