Beekeeping is a highly versatile pastime. Whether you have a rooftop garden, balcony, or your very own garden, all that matters is that your beehives are protected from the elements. What was once considered the preserve of elderly gentlemen has recently become a niche hobby among a young urban populace. “The youngest member of our beekeeping club is just 13 years old,” says Professor Ralf Einspanier from the Institute of Veterinary Biochemistry at Freie Universität Berlin, who is head of the new Bees Working Group.

Ninety-five percent of the estimated 2,000 owners of roughly 10,000 bee colonies in Germany’s capital are hobby beekeepers. About 1,350 of these people are trained members of the Berlin branch of the German Beekeeping Association (Imkerverband Berlin). Unfortunately, the remaining beekeepers often include people who order one or two beehive boxes online just to “see how it goes.”

The Buzz around Bees

The urban hype surrounding these busy little honey collectors – the third most important livestock species in Germany after cattle and pigs – has come as a surprise to biologists, official veterinarians, and the Berlin Senate. A Coordination Office for Bee Health based at Freie Universität has now been set up to meet the demand for knowledge on bees. Dr. Antonia Genath, a veterinarian and researcher at the Freie Universität currently heads the new office. While informational events have been organized for lay people and research carried out at the university for decades, the bee was a mere marginal note on the curriculum for veterinary science – until now, that is.

Elective courses on bees for students, public events, beekeeping courses, consultation services, and training for official veterinarians on bee health will be among the primary tasks of the Coordination Office for Bee Health along with supervising research projects. One crucial element of beekeeping is being able to recognize the epidemics that can wipe out entire bee colonies, such as American foulbrood, a bacterial infection that destroys bee larvae and must be reported to the authorities.

Anyone who is interested in keeping bees should learn the ropes beforehand by attending courses held by a beekeeping association or the Coordination Office for Bee Health. “We also recommend discussing your plans with your fellow residents before setting up your hive,” says Einspanier. “Honeybees have a flying range of three kilometers, so you’ll need to make sure that their flight path doesn’t lie just above your neighbor’s balcony.”

Giving a few jars of honey to irritated neighbors now and then can only go so far. Joining a beekeeping association isn’t just worthwhile if you need legal aid in the event of a dispute – association members also offer newcomers plenty of support and can act as mentors in the first year of beekeeping. If you are interested in beekeeping then you should also bear in mind that this hobby comes with a considerable financial investment, as you will need different types of equipment aside from the honey extractor.

Bees Need Close Observation

Although beekeeping does offer stressed and harried city dwellers a space to unwind and relax, it’s important to note that it also involves a lot of hard work. Things quiet down in winter when the bees form a cluster in the hive to keep warm. They shouldn’t be disturbed during this time.

It is only when their numbers begin to consistently increase in the spring – thanks to the queen’s fervent hatching activities – that you’ll really need to start paying close attention. “This is when they begin to swarm, which you can prevent by regularly inspecting the hive and splitting it into another nucleus colony at an early stage, for example,” says Dr. Antonia Genath.

Important to Catch Escaped Bees Quickly

The queen is removed from the beehive with some of the brood comb and worker bees, and put into a new beehive box. However, the old queen may have already escaped with her underlings. If this is the case, she will send out scouts to look for a new home, before settling down on a tree or bush close to the old beehive with the swarm. If the owner of the hive doesn’t track them down and capture them, then basically anyone can come along and adopt them.

“Spring and summer are the prime harvesting periods, when honey production and extraction are in full swing. Treatments to prevent infestations of the varroa mite begin as we move into fall,” says Genath. This can be achieved by using different organic acids in the beehive. “Keeping a close eye on the hive’s health is crucial.”

Not everyone who sets up a bee colony sticks with it, as Einspanier explains: “Some people stop after two years because their swarm escapes, or they end up accidentally killing the bees.” That’s why he recommends starting with two colonies so that you don’t get too frustrated. Not only that, but the likelihood is that at least one of the bee colonies will survive the winter.

However, if you really want to help promote biodiversity and conservation, then keeping honeybees may not be the most effective way to go about it, as they are not in danger of extinction – unlike Berlin’s roughly 550 wild bee species.

Wild Bees Need Our Help Too

Wild bees are usually solitary and don’t live in a colony. You can give them a helping hand by offering them a suitable spot to eat and nest. Bee hotels – boxes filled with hollow reeds or bamboo stems – are perfect even for small balconies. You can support species like the buff-tailed bumblebee and mining bee that nest underground by leaving open sandy spaces in the corner of your garden untouched. The capital city’s gardens and balconies have never looked as lush and green since summer of last year, when the Covid-19 pandemic pushed housebound Berliners to take up plant cultivation.

But it’s important to remember that not every plant is bee-friendly. “The blossoms shouldn’t be so full that the bees can’t access the nectaries. Geraniums, a classic choice for balconies, are less than ideal,” explains Einspanier. Flowers like marigolds, asters, nasturtiums, and forget-me-nots are a much better option – although bees will bypass these exotic beauties when locusts and lindens are in full bloom.

Watch Out for “Mad Honey”

There aren’t any plants that are poisonous to bees, but there is such a thing as honey that is poisonous to people. “Turkish mad honey” is typically wild honey from the Turkish Black Sea coast that contains a high proportion of pollen and nectar from Rhododendron ponticum and can cause nausea, vomiting, and hallucinations.

But not to worry – the typical Berlin blend consists of very healthy blossom honey from linden and locust trees, infused with the bouquet of flowers found in our urban jungle. The fact that linden honey (not to be confused with lime-blossom honey) primarily consists of honeydew syrup secreted by aphids via their digestive tract, which is then reused by bees, doesn’t seem to put honey-lovers off. Bees themselves devour pollen, store it in their honey stomach while they are out collecting, and then spit it into the honeycomb.

A strong bee colony produces up to 50 kilograms of honey per year. “The water content in good honey should lie below 18 percent – any other characteristics are just a matter of taste,” says Einspanier. Some people prefer a mild honey that’s light-colored and smooth, while others love dark, aromatic forest honey or honeydew honey. “Of course, your own honey always tastes the best,” Einspanier smiles. But does the expert beekeeper eat lots of honey himself? “Nope – just one jar per month!”

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This text originally appeared in German on February 20, 2021, in the Tagesspiegel newspaper supplement published by Freie Universität.