Incorporating beekeeping into urban agriculture initiatives can yield fantastic benefits for both your community and the bees. In fact, incorporating a Beekeeping program into an Urban Agriculture initiative can bring a wealth of benefits to the community. The best part is that it’s completely doable even in small towns and cities. The smaller your town or city, the more likely it is that you can find space in private yards or spaces within public parks and greenbelts to accommodate your initiatives. Here are some great benefits of incorporating beekeeping into urban agriculture:
Why is urban beekeeping important?
Beekeeping not only benefits the community, but it also benefits the bees. You might be surprised to know that honeybees are responsible for pollinating approximately one-third of all the food humans eat worldwide. But since wild bee populations have collapsed by 80 percent in recent years, many farmers have begun to rely on managed bee colonies for pollination. In fact, farmers are increasingly turning to managed colonies for agricultural production and even as a source of honeybees for hives needed in urban agriculture initiatives. This means that not only is beekeeping beneficial to your community as a whole, but it’s also beneficial to you!
Why are honey bees important to agriculture?
Honey bees are responsible for pollinating a third of the food we eat and contribute $15 billion to our economy. Honey bees are also responsible for pollinating wild plants, trees, and flowers that feed and sustain wildlife.
Without honey bees, wild plants will dwindle and animals like birds, bears, deer, elk, rabbits, and other species would need to travel further or seek out new food sources.
This is why it’s important not only to care for honey bees but also to ensure that they have a healthy environment in which to thrive.
One way you can do this is by providing them with easy access to the right kinds of food sources in your yard or on your property.
What are the main advantages of beekeeping?
Bees are especially helpful in urban areas because they help with pollination. This means that the plants and vegetables you grow will be more fruitful and a lot less work for you. The bees also serve as an additional form of pest control, meaning your crops won’t have to contend with a variety of damaging pests.
Beekeeping also brings benefits to your community. In fact, beekeeping can bring a significant increase in revenue, especially if it is incorporated into urban agriculture initiatives that focus on selling their produce at local farmers markets or selling honey in bulk. Beekeepers can charge fairly high prices for their honey because of the demand among individuals who value the health benefits and taste of honey, which is unique to each region. Other benefits include an increase in the quality of life for your community members and decreased use of pesticides because less need to be used by bees as they take care of this task themselves.
In addition, beekeeping can help reduce water pollution as you’ll plant flowers that bees love nearby so they don’t have to travel very far to find food or water sources. This has other benefits too, such as higher property values due to increased aesthetic appeal and reduced need for irrigation systems since the increased plant life reduces surface runoff.
What is the relationship between honeybees and the agricultural economy?
Honeybees and the agricultural economy are closely linked. In fact, a Farm Business Magazine report found that honey was responsible for 2 percent of the entire world’s GDP in 2016. Honey is created when bees gather nectar from plants and then convert it into honey.
This connection between honeybees and the agricultural economy has become increasingly important as food production becomes more industrialized. As food production takes place, there is a decrease in pollinator activity–resulting in greater reliance on honeybees to pollinate crops. Honeybees are also responsible for carrying pollen from one plant to another. This helps ensure that different types of plants will thrive together and increase crop yield as opposed to relying solely on humans to move pollen from plants to other plants.
