David Graves teaches bee anatomy at his stand in the Union Square Greenmarket. (Photo by Melissa Muller Daka/CNS)

At the Union Square Greenmarket in New York City, one of the nation’s most celebrated farmers markets, David Graves sells a line of gourmet jams and maple syrups from his Becket, Mass., farm. In the mid-’90s, he added honey, which is made especially by Graves from local hives.

A self-taught expert on the anatomy of the honeybee and on beekeeping in general, Graves notes “more and more people are interested in locally produced honey,” not only because of its benefits for pollination, but also because a buzz is spreading that “the body builds up immunity to pollen allergies when fed the nectar of local flowers.”

What Graves doesn’t mention is that a portion the honey he sells is contraband. It’s made in New York City, where beekeeping is illegal.

Berkshire Berries honey made from David Graves' hives on New York City rooftops. (Photo by Melissa Muller Daka/CNS)

Graves and his wife, Mary, have 12 hives on New York City rooftops, in neighborhoods such as Harlem, the West Village and the Upper East Side. Pointing to a cluster of nearby buildings, Graves notes that one of his hives is on the rooftop of a nearby hotel, “but unfortunately I’m not able to tell you which one.”

Beekeeping has been illegal in New York City since 1999, when the administration of Mayor Rudy Giuliani added bees to a list of over 100 wild animals prohibited within city limits along with cheetahs, grizzly bears, scorpions and elephants. At the time, the New York City Health Code was revised to prohibit the “possession, keeping, harboring and selling” of bees. According to a spokesperson for the Department of Health, bees were banned “because of their ability to sting people.”

Elsewhere in the nation, though, urban beekeeping for both personal and commercial purposes is flourishing, and, in some cities, hives are placed on the rooftops and in the gardens of some of the most notable buildings. In Chicago, for instance, a beekeeping industry thrives on the roof of Town Hall, where over 200,000 bees are tended to by former inmates as part of a jobs program, while in Washington D.C., a single hive stands tall on the lawn of the White House.

According to Carrie Freeland of the American Beekeeping Federation, the organization noted in its national membership a significant rise  of “hobby beekeepers” or beekeepers who keep 25 hives or less. Beekeeping “Meetup” groups and educational classes are popping up in cities around the nation, even in New York, despite its illegality. Amy Carpenter, a beekeeping student at Norfolk County Beekeepers Association’s Bee School in Boston, says beekeeping is “not just the quirky old dude dressed in white, tinkering on a Sunday anymore, though he probably still has the most experience out of all of us novices.” Carpenter recently created a group on Meetup.com, posted info on Craigslist about it, and then went on Facebook to ask people to join. Within one week, 13 people joined the group. A similar group in New York City, co-organized by a beekeeping activism group, the Gotham City Honey Co-Op, has accumulated more than 600 members since its inception in 2006.

Among the slew of supporters of beekeeping for its environmental benefits, The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is specifically promoting beekeeping in urban areas. According to Dr. Gabriela Chavarria, director of the NRDC’s Science Center, who specializes in bees, there is “never enough beekeeping because there are not enough bees to pollinate our plants and not only the ones that we eat, but plants in our landscapes.” She adds, “Can you imagine a world without flowers or fruits?”

In San Francisco, Cameo Wood, owner of Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper, an urban beekeeping and bee-themed shop, says her city is home to more than 500 beekeepers. “Bees are a huge part of our agricultural landscape.” Cameo considers herself a “terrible gardener,” and a “mediocre chef,” so she became a beekeeper in order to play a role in the San Francisco “food scene.” Wood , who knows many of her counterparts in New York, feels strongly that beekeeping should be legal there, but says “its hard to tell if New Yorkers are interested in it for the honey or for food activism.”

The move toward legalization in New York began in late 2008, when Just Foods, a New York City-based nonprofit that promotes the local food industry, initiated a beekeeping campaign and organized beekeeping events “to raise awareness about the importance of bees,” said Amy Blankstein of Just Foods. And it lobbied former City Councilman David Yassky of Brooklyn to introduce a bill in January 2009 to legalize beekeeping.  Just Foods also is working closely with the New York City Department of Health so that changes in the code will take place.

More than 100 New Yorkers appeared at a Feb. 3 public hearing at the Department of Health, many of them blowing their covers as clandestine beekeepers. Andrew Coté, founding member of the New York Beekeepers Association, who also sells his New York City honey at the Union Square Greenmarket, was one of them. He acknowledges having 30 hives on rooftops across the city, and urged for the revision of the Health Code. No one spoke against legalization of beekeeping, giving the activists high hopes.

Currently, a fine up to $2,000 is imposed for having hives in the city, but no fine is imposed for admitting to having hives. The Health Department would not only have to find a beekeeper’s hives, but would also have to be certain to whom the hive belonged. If beekeeping is legalized in New York, beekeepers would be required to disclose the whereabouts of their hives, and keep their contact information on file with the Health Department, but the city would not require fees or licenses.

After reviewing the petition to allow beekeeping for agricultural purposes, the health department determined that “responsible urban beekeeping does not pose a public health issue,” according to a spokesperson. In March, the Department of Health will present a code revision to the Board of Health, and a final decision about the fate of beekeeping in New York City could be reached by the City Council shortly after that. After a 30-day grace period, current beekeepers could come out of hiding some time in spring.

Graves, the Union Square honey seller, worries that legalization might encourage too many eager newcomers to take up beekeeping, only to abandon the hobby later.  While Dr. Chavarria of the NRDC observes that “bees are very independent and can survive by themselves extremely well,” Graves has a different opinion. “What most people don’t realize is that bees are like pets: You can’t just start a colony and let them get by on their own,” he said. “Bees, like other pets, need to be taken care of.”