Cool city beekeeping

The tragic disappearance of large numbers of bees since 2006 has finally alerted people to the possible catastrophic consequences of environmental degradation. With climate change, repeated food security issues, the global rise of environmental awareness, urban farming and the rise in eco-farming in recent years, people have also begun paying attention to urban beekeeping. 

During last year’s summer vacation, Songshan Community College (松山社區大學) in New Taipei City began promoting its “Urban Beekeeping” syllabus. In addition to introducing related information on bees and the potential for urban beekeeping, the course also allows students to actually experience the fun of beekeeping. Currently, Vancouver, New York, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg as well as countless other cities, all have their own beehives.

With relatively low time requirements and low initial costs, beekeeping can be effortlessly implemented into everyday urban life, and as bees forage for food, there is also absolutely no need to feed them. In addition, parks, private gardens, cemeteries, overgrown wasteland, balconies and rooftop terraces in the city provide an abundant variety of flowering plants in different seasons from spring to winter, making the city an ideal habitat for bees.

Cool city beekeeping
URL:http://www.peopo.org/news/269687

(以下是中文對照)

城市養蜂，酷！
自從2006年發生了全球蜜蜂大量失踪的慘案後，人們終於警覺到環境的惡化所可能帶來的災難。而近年來氣候變遷、食安問題頻傳，全球環保意識抬頭，都市農耕與友善耕作隨之興起，城市養蜂也開始為人們所注意。

台北市松山社區大學在去年暑假開始推出「城市養蜂與環境教育」課程。除了介紹蜜蜂的相關知識及城市養蜂的潛力外，也讓學員們實地體驗養蜂的樂趣。目前，溫哥華、紐約、柏林、法蘭克福、慕尼黑和漢堡等都有自己的城市蜂箱。養蜂可以很容易地植入到日常城市生活中，所需時間成本相對較低，因為蜜蜂們可以自己覓食，根本毋需飼養。另外，城市也是蜜蜂的理想棲息地，在公園、私人花園、墓地、雜草叢生的荒地、陽臺以及屋頂露臺上，各種植物在不同季節開花，於是，從春天到冬天，蜜蜂都能找到足夠的食物。