Synopsis: From the rooftop of Fortnum and Masons in Piccadilly and the grounds of Buckingham Palace to the Square Mile’s skyscrapers, banks and law courts, out to the city farms, back yards and council flat balconies of south London, allotments to the west, a honey co-op in the east end, and wildlife parks and gardens in the north, the landscape of the capital is now dotted with bee hives.

Bees in the City will not only paint a vivid portrait of these intimate – sometimes secret – locations, it will also introduce you to the beekeepers and their bees through the changing seasons. By following the authors throughout a year, it will be part travelogue, part nature guide and part how-to manual for urban dwellers seeking to combine city life with keeping bees.

Interviews with a diverse range of urban apiarists, describing where and how they keep their hives, will take the reader on a journey of discovery in which they will meet city workers tending to their bees in their lunch hour, entrepreneurs selling London honey to shops and restaurants, youth workers using beekeeping as a vehicle to help troubled teenagers, and environmentalists trying to green the city by keeping nature’s most efficient pollinator.

Identifying with these new breed of beekeepers and learning how to keep bees in small, enclosed spaces, cheek by jowl with people, readers will be inspired and encouraged to take up this increasingly popular pastime.

http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9780852652312

Hot Brands Cool Places Verdict
A fascinating book, divided into three main parts, in Part 1 you meet a variety of beekeepers all based in an urban environment. In Part 2 there is guidance about how to make the urban environment more bee-friendly. In Part 3 there is a comprehensive guide to becoming an urban bee-keeper, covering everything from the planning and preparation, to a month-by-month guide to urban beekeeping jobs. There is also a very useful Appendix section examining risk assessments, rules and recommendations, disclaimer and examples of bee-friendly flowers, shrubs and trees.

As the authors emphasise bee-keeping is not a hobby to be taken lightly, with urban beekeeping comes responsibility, not only to your bees, other people’s bees and to your neighbours, but also to the very concept of keeping bees in a city. However, if you are seriously interested then this book is a great place to start. Highly Recommended!