※ This video is part of the July 7, 2016 broadcast of “One Earth - Cities, Receiving Bees.” People who raise bees in the city “I think ‘urban beekeeping’ is making it possible for bees to live well in the city.” Urban beekeeper Park Jin A residential area in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. No Cheon-gi (57), who lives here, has been raising bees on the roof of his house for 7 years. He became fascinated by the diligence of bees and increased the number of bees by one or two, and now he has 7 bees. Furthermore, Cheon-gi’s bees are ‘native bees’, which are hard to find now as 90% of them died from an epidemic in 2010. Cheon-gi is so devoted to the bees that he even personally carves a paulownia tree to make a beehive. However, Cheon-gi is not the only one raising bees in the city! On the roof of a logistics center in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul. Even here, where it is hard to find any green space, bees are growing. The person who takes care of these bees is a young urban beekeeper, Park Jin (35). He quit his job and jumped into urban beekeeping, completely captivated by the charm of bees. He manages 25 urban apiaries. Bees have settled in the city. There may be bees living next to you right now. Bees, changing the city “I think that efforts to maintain the overall health and balance of the city are the fundamental goals of urban beekeeping.” Professor Lee Seung-hwan, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University A hotel rooftop in Dongjak-gu, Seoul. Even in this place that is far from ‘nature,’ bees have settled down. Today is the day to extract the honey that the bees have worked hard to collect. As I turn on the honey extractor, golden honey begins to flow out. This is the first harvest in a month since I started urban beekeeping in May. Since I made urban honey with my own hands, the sense of accomplishment and excitement is doubled. Urban beekeeping is not limited to rooftops. At Seoul Children’s Grand Park, there is a uniquely shaped beehive that is 4.3m high on the side of the road where people pass by. The entrance where the bees come and go is high, so people don’t have to worry about getting stung, and the front is made of glass, so children visiting the park can safely observe the ecology of the bees. The benefits of urban beekeeping don’t end there. In order to raise bees well, the once barren rooftop has even changed into a green garden. A city changing because of bees. How much more can bees change the city in the future? Misconceptions and truths about urban honey “(Urban honey) feels like it’s bad for your body? Isn’t it because the flowers are covered in smoke?” From a survey on Myeongdong streets But isn’t honey produced in the city really different from regular honey? A blind test of ‘urban honey VS rural honey’ conducted on 196 citizens in Myeongdong! Which honey was tastier? Was the taste of urban honey inferior to that of rural honey? The second misconception about urban honey, following its taste, is ‘safety!’ Do the exhaust fumes and fine dust emitted by cars really affect bees? Indeed, we asked whether we can trust and eat city honey, and requested a test for 9 ingredients including heavy metals such as lead and cadmium. So, what were the results of the test for city honey? Was it a misunderstanding or the truth? ✔ Program name: The Only Earth - City, Receives Punishment ✔ Broadcast date: 2016.07.07 #GolladyeonDocumentary #TheOnlyEarth #Bees #Honeybees #Workerbees #Queenbees #Nativebees #Westernbees #Beekeeping #Apiculture #ReturningToFarming #ReturningToTheRural #One #EndangeredSpecies #LonghornedHorse #Wasps #Beekeepers #Honey #Honeybees