National Urban Beekeeping Day – July 19, 2025

History of National Urban Beekeeping Day

On December 3, 2019, Detroit Hives, a non-profit organization, declared July 19 of every year as National Urban Beekeeping Day. The holiday was created to raise awareness about supporting urban beekeepers, inform the public on the role of urban beekeeping, and also to discuss the importance of bees in our environment. On July 21 of the same year, Jewell Jones introduced the H.R. Bill 141, a bill to declare July 19 as National Urban Beekeeping Day in the State of Michigan. This bill was granted and supported by ten State Representatives.

One of the challenges of urban beekeeping was swarming. While it is harmless, the sight of a swarming colony of bees in an urban area is enough to scare people away and disturb their day-to-day activities. People know that bee stings can be excruciating and are ever wary of getting stung by bees. Another challenge was that the increasing popularity of urban beekeeping led to lower honey yields as reported in some cities like New York. Then, there was the challenge of easy transmission of some disease agents that affect honey bees in urban areas.

These challenges led to numerous bee bans, especially in North American cities. But in recent times, these bans have been overturned. One of the major reasons for this was the health of the bees. Bees in urban colonies were found to be healthier and more productive than country bees. The inclusion of bees in the local food movement also helped in overturning bans, and from 1999 to 2012, there was an enormous increase in urban beekeepers. Although it is now mandatory to register beehives, a large number of beekeepers do not inform their city management.