The Urban Beehive Port Botany

The Urban Beehive is driven by two beekeepers, Doug Purdie and Vicky Brown, who met through the New South Wales Beekeepers Association and decided things were getting serious with bees. The Urban Beehive aims to put beehives all over Sydney – to boost natural pollination and help maintain the honeybees' genetic diversity before it’s too late. They do this by capturing feral bee swarms to populate their beehives (where possible), rather than purchasing packaged bees or queen bees from breeders. In this way, they help protect the wild bee genetic lines that need strengthening in case the worst happens and Varroa or some other pest infiltrates the borders. They’re also offering the community a service by re-housing honeybees that otherwise might be destroyed.