*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.*
*Andrew Zaleski for Bloomberg News*
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.
Urban honeybees are having a moment in US cities like Atlanta, Chicago and Raleigh. Since New York City ended its prohibition on urban hives in 2010, honeybees have proliferated across the five boroughs: The industrious insects buzz on the green roof of the Javits Center and on the Art-Deco setbacks of the Empire State Building. There were 68 registered hives in NYC in 2010; today there are more than 400.
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*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.*
*Andrew Zaleski for Bloomberg News*
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.
Urban honeybees are having a moment in US cities like Atlanta, Chicago and Raleigh. Since New York City ended its prohibition on urban hives in 2010, honeybees have proliferated across the five boroughs: The industrious insects buzz on the green roof of the Javits Center and on the Art-Deco setbacks of the Empire State Building. There were 68 registered hives in NYC in 2010; today there are more than 400.
[Read the full story here.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-26/urban-beekeeping-is-booming-but-how-many-hives-can-a-city-handle?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3NDYyOTM1MCwiZXhwIjoxNzc1MjM0MTUwLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUQ0k5QzRLSUpIREcwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJEMzU0MUJFQjhBQUY0QkUwQkFBOUQzNkI3QjlCRjI4OCJ9.MbzrdRQ1E02IQFGBuJBHaWk8MthVVxylOTIxTsYlz80)