Installing of the beehive on the roof of Stará Tržnica in the very centre of Bratislava. (source: TASR)
Bees definitely belong in the city. In a city there are also plants that need to be pollinated and if people create suitable conditions for them, the result is not only a better harvest and honey, but also a healthier city.
“Thanks to city bees, people are becoming more sensitive to what is around them,” Petra Ježeková from the Živica Center for Environmental and Ethical Education, which is behind the City Bees (Mestské Včely) project, told The Slovak Spectator. “This is the first step towards making the city greener.”
Živica, in cooperation with individual partners, has already placed approximately 30 hives in Bratislava. They are located, for example, on the roof of the Stará Tržnica market hall, the headquarters of Slovenská sporiteľňa and in the garden of the Presidential Palace. This May, they installed five hives in the garden of the municipal office of the Dúbravka borough.
“The aim of Dúbravka’s Little Bees project is to make the public aware of the role of bees in the ecosystem, breeding opportunities and to create suitable conditions for them to live in the urban environment,” explained Mária Smiešková, head of Dúbravka’s Department of the Environment in the press release.
Beekeeper Tomáš Blaškovič, who takes care of the hives located within the City Bees project, says that he brought strong production families to Dúbravka. The borough could have its own honey this year.
“I am curious myself, because the taste of Bratislava honey is very attractive,” said Blaškovič as cited in the press release.
