Not sure how many hipsters turned to beekeeping.
Seems like there is a bubbling scene of urban honey makers and beekeepers in the UK.
Tim Hayward's My bee eats because I'm a Londoner (Guardian, October 9) documents one of these colonies on top of the Fortnum & Mason building in Mayfair.
Beyond this single case, Urban Bees (bringing bees to the city) is a site wholly dedicated to such endeavors in London.
I was surprised to learn learn from them that "there are hundreds of beekeepers in the city and there
have been for hundreds of years."
In video above they share an interesting lesson on how to vacuum a swarm of bees on the loose.
Also worth noting is Royal Festival Hive which was set to document the life and times of a beehive on the roof of the Royal Festival Hall.
The project its creators write, "began life, like all great ideas, as a conversation in the
pub. In May 2007 Mikey Tomkins (filmmaker, beekeeper and phD student
specialising in Urban Agriculture) made the fanciful suggestion to
Andrew Hinton (filmmaker, bee novice, and at the time an artist in
residence at Southbank Centre) that it would be interesting to put a
beehive on the roof of the Royal Festival Hall."
As bee novices they enlisted the help of John Chapple, Chairman of the London Beekeeper's Association so their idea could fly.
Back in February 2009 (picture below, from their site), they enjoyed some toast with London's Finest.
Does the label suggest that one can find beekeepers near each station of the Tube?
Want to see what the UK scene has to offer as a whole, check the National Honey Show (October29 to October 31).
Time to play Jesus and the Mary Chain 'Just Like Honey' I guess…