In Parks and on Rooftops, Urban Beekeeping Takes Flight
Raising honeybees in the city has emerged as a popular sustainability practice — and a big business. But hives can also leave native pollinators in a sticky fix.
A beekeeper tends a hive on the roof of the Norton Rose Fulbright Tower in downtown Sugar Land, Texas, 2025.
Photographer: Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
Pick any commercial office building in DC this summer and there’s a decent chance that at least 50,000 winged insects call the rooftop their home. That’s the typical size of a single honeybee hive. Some are self-managed; others are maintained by companies that specialize in urban apiculture.
One such business, Montreal-based Alvéole, is responsible for about 60 hives in the district alone (including the “Bloom Bees” atop the building that houses Bloomberg News’ Washington, DC, bureau). Worldwide, the firm oversees some 2,000 hives across 73 cities. And it has lots of company: Other brands in the blossoming urban beekeeping sector include Best Bees, Bee Downtown and Bee2Bee Honey Collective.