Taiwan urban beekeeping gets positive buzz

Gears with the word ‘motivation’, computer illustration. 
TAIPEI – Under mulberry trees at a bee farm in Taipei’s suburbs, students watched intently as instructor Tsai Ming-hsien wafted smoke over a hive box, explaining to aspiring apiarists how to keep the insects happy in an urban setting.
His audience included entrepreneurs, retirees and even a six-year-old who reached eagerly for a frame pulled from the box, as Tsai demonstrated how bees can be kept calm with a smoker.
Bee populations around the world are facing disaster from overuse of pesticides, predatory mites and extreme temperatures due to climate change.
That also spells catastrophe for humans, as three-quarters of the world’s main crops depend on bees to act as key pollinators.
Temperature and weather fluctuations in Taiwan have impacted honey output in recent years. From 2020 to 2021, it jumped nearly 60 percent to 13,260 tonnes, before dropping to 9,332 tonnes the following year.
Tsai said recreational beekeeping in Taiwan has grown steadily over the past decade, with people tending about a dozen to up to 60 hive boxes in their yards or rooftop gardens.
“The city is overdeveloped with less green space and declining biodiversity,” he told AFP.
“We hope this creature will act as a key to open more knowledge about nature and ecosystems.”
Tsai said that he does not expect everyone who attends his class to become a bee farmer or keeper.
“But we hope at least (people) can get to know and understand them, and won’t rush to destroy them when they appear,” he said.