Where Beekeeping Is Illegal (and Newly Legal)

Kathleen writes: "We started recently backyard beekeeping in Denver Colorado. My interest in beekeeping started several years ago while helping a friend with her honey harvest out in Strasburg Colorado. After setting up our two hives in late May, we waited for swarm calls. The first came from Greenwood Mountain and the swarm was miniscule but we were thrilled. We collected the swarm by hand, which took quite a long time, but we were excited and awed by the process. Our second swarm came to us boxed and I made many newbie mistakes while introducing them to the hive, but somehow they ended up claiming it as home. Towards the end of summer, we did a hive combine. Although we weren’t able to gather any honey this season, we hope that our hive combine was successful enough for the bees to survive through winter for "robbing" next season!

"Dallas and I recently married and we included our hives in the half-moon cake topper I compiled from photographs of us and our 'menagerie.'"

Amy writes: "I live in North City Park section of Denver, about three miles from the center of downtown. Bees just recently became legal here. I have two hidden behind sunflowers are at my house (still illegal; they are supposed to be in the rear third of my lot). Denver City Park and Zoo are 1/2 mile from my house, and the Denver Botanic Gardens are two miles away. My yard is fully xeric, not one blade of grass ... Bee heaven!

I am an illegal urban beekeeper. In my small Midwest town bees are classified as "pests." Pest indeed! In the first 16 years I lived in my house I never saw a honeybee. As a way to honor and remember my late father who kept 10 hives I decided to get a hive to release some swarms back into the wild.

I live toward the end of a tree-lined dead end street, surrounded by neighbors who don't use chemicals and are understanding about my mission. I live about a block from a clover- and flower-filled park with many dead and hollow trees ideal for a beehive....

It has been a good 16 months. When I take my grandson for a walk and see a golden bee (which happens with increasingly more frequency) I feel pretty good that at least one of my swarms is doing well.

Finally this summer I saw a bee I had never seen before. Research has led me to conclude it is a leaf cutter bee. I take this as a sign that, at least in my micro-ecosystem, things may be improving. I hope to send off many more swarms and get a bit more honey before the local authorities catch me and slap me in leg irons. The Obamas can keep bees but not me?

Roger writes: "Genesis Park Community Garden, the South Bronx, New York: I have kept 3-4 hives of bees here for 10 years. Amazing as it may sound, the Bronx is ideal for an apiary. The flowering trees and plants in its acres of parkland and on its streets make the Bronx a bee-paradise! The hives are very productive, and the honeys are delightful!"

James writes: "The Gotham City Honey Co-Op formed around free weekly beekeeping course held in Manhattan from January to May. We are a formal nonprofit agricultural co-op hoping that beekeeping will soon be legalized in New York City. The photo is of a 8-foot long 3-foot diameter bee tree felled by a thunderstorm at the Bronx Zoo. It took eight Co-Op beekeepers most of a day to hive the colony."

Karin says: "I've been keeping bees for four years. The city of Cleveland recently passed an ordinance allowing chickens and bees on residential city lots. I feel that my bees help to restore balance in the city by improving pollination of the flora of urban gardens, community gardens and vegetation for wildlife. In addition, the honey is wonderful and has won several awards in competitions against honey from rural areas!"