The urban beekeeping boom is hurting wild pollinator species

The recent global trend for urban apiary amounts to “bee-washing” that detracts from efforts to reverse the decline in wild pollinators, argues Graham Lawton

By Graham Lawton

DURING one of the pandemic lockdowns in 2020 – it must have been the first, as we were spending a lot of time sunbathing in the garden – one of my neighbours started keeping bees. He would emerge from his back door wearing the full get-up and fumigate the hive before examining the interior for honey. We live in London, so barely knew him, and he never offered us a jar of honey, but it was an entertaining spectacle that gave us some cheer on those dreary days.

I didn’t know it then, but my neighbour was part of a global trend. London, along with Berlin, New York, …