Bringing a buzz to city biodiversity conservation are the projects keeping honey bee colonies in urban environments. Across city rooftops and gardens, honey bee colonies are quietly supporting urban biodiversity. These hives produce honey, enhance local plant diversity and promote sustainability education. While some residents may express concern about stings and swarms, beekeeping initiatives have a vital role in connecting communities with nature. As urban biodiversity declines, understanding public attitudes is key to making these small but significant interventions thrive.
A recent study conducted in the municipality of Taino, near Milan, has examined how citizens perceive the opportunity for urban beekeeping. Bees in cities often do better than in rural areas because they are less exposed to harmful pesticides. As urban apiculture gains popularity across the globe, the introduction of honey bees should be balanced with support for wild bees and other pollinators to reduce negative impacts due to competition.
One unique aspect to urban beekeeping is the inherently public nature of the activity, requiring a sustained collaboration between citizens, public bodies and local associations within the green space context. This study investigated the citizens’ perceptions and willingness to pay for urban beekeeping through a case study using an online survey with 153 citizens, corresponding to approximately 5% of inhabitants. The results highlighted that, for most respondents, the main benefits provided by urban apiaries are related to the awareness and educational activities on the role of honey bees in the urban environment. In this study, 60% of the respondents said they would give money to help build a city beehive, and on average, they were willing to pay €22 each. This would result in double the budget required to build the bee hives, but does not include on-going maintenance costs.
Further results suggested that whilst awareness of urban beekeeping was minimal, the value of the bees role in the ecosystem was considered high. For those that did not support the initiatives, it was found that the initiative was not considered a shared public good. Instead, it was largely seen as a project prompted by local policymakers. This perception, the study suggests, may be influenced by political leanings, which can shape attitudes toward environmental conservation preferences.
This research into urban apiculture and citizen’s attitudes provides an insight into the monetary value assigned to the ecosystem services provided by bees. Its findings can help shape how policymakers and project leaders better engage communities with sustainable interventions aimed at urban conservation.
Read the full paper: Notaro, S., Paletto, A., Mira, A. and Grilli, G., 2025. Citizens’ perceptions and willingness to pay for urban beekeeping: a case study in northern Italy. Urban Ecosystems, 28(2), pp.1-13.
