Urban Beekeeping in the UK
- Thread starter wildoates
- Start date
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Wow that's a pretty *sweet* (hahaha) garden setup he has there.
I have to admit, though, I'd feel kind of uneasy about eating urban honey especially in a big city like London. Who knows what all those bees are picking up along with their nectar?
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.
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
Keeping whales? It never occurred to me that this could be a problem.
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
Keeping whales? It never occurred to me that this could be a problem.
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.
But I'd like to hear from some beekeepers about the likelihood of nasty stuff getting into honey, too.
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:
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:
