City dwellers find honeybees make sweetest pets

Inspired by a sweet tooth or a desire to be closer to Mother Nature, a small but growing number of Tokyoites are taking up beekeeping as a hobby, setting up bee colonies on rooftops, verandas or in backyards.

While no official statistics exist, experts point to increased inquiries on setting up hives.

Interest appears to have been spurred by wide media coverage of beehives built atop buildings in prime locations in central Tokyo.

Experts say honey bees do not attack people unless provoked, are capable of adapting to urban settings, and can even be kept as pets.

And with bee populations declining worldwide, the growth of the hobby could help bolster the population of insects credited not only for producing honey and beeswax, but also for their role in pollination.

At the same time, experts are concerned that the growing fad, if pursued irresponsibly, could strain relationships within communities, and even cause problems for professional beekeepers.

Bees are considered "livestock" under the law and beekeepers in principle must register with local governments. They must also undergo inspections to prevent the spread of communicable diseases among insects.

However, the law does not cover beekeeping as a hobby, and it is up to the individual to report to authorities.

As of January, 92 households were registered with the Tokyo metropolitan government; 105 with Chiba Prefecture; 169 with Kanagawa Prefecture; 146 with Saitama Prefecture; and 210 with Gunma Prefecture.

Seita Fujiwara, an apiarist from Iwate Prefecture who has been involved in setting up bee hives in central Tokyo, says the population of nonprofessional beekeepers nationwide is probably 10 times the number registered with authorities.

Fujiwara, 52, has been advising shopkeepers and others in Tokyo's Ginza district in setting up a bee farm atop a building in the posh shopping district.

Honey produced by the bees has been used to make pound cakes and other sweets sold at patisseries and confectionaries in Ginza.

Fujiwara himself keeps thousands of honeybees on the rooftop of the Social Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo's Nagatacho district.

"Tokyo is a paradise for honeybees," Fujiwara said, adding the absence of both natural enemies such as bears, and manmade hazards, such as crop dusting with pesticides, makes urban centers like Tokyo an ideal breeding ground.

A media report on the Ginza project inspired Nobuhiro Murayama, a 45-year-old company employee, and his wife Chizuru, 43, to take up beekeeping.

"If people can keep bees atop a building in the center of the city, then so can we," Murayama, a resident of Tokyo's Nerima Ward, said of the couple's decision to import a beehive complete with 30,000 bees from an apiarist in Saitama Prefecture last October.

The couple was also impressed by a TV program about a U.S. picture book artist who made candles from beeswax.

Chizuru Murayama said the program brought back childhood memories of sampling fresh honey at her grandfather's home.

Nevertheless, the couple trod carefully before fully setting up their apiary in their 10-square-meter yard, surrounded by neighbors' homes. Soon after their set arrived, they worked diligently to allay any fears their neighbors might have had.

They quickly produced flyers reminding neighbors about their new hobby, and distributed them.

Assuring their neighbors they had registered with the metropolitan governor, they even added some tips on what to do if a wayward bee wandered into their homes, and how to treat bee stings.

While some expressed nervousness, overall, the Murayamas said the response was favorable.

"When I open up the nest box, the bees appear to all stare back at me. Their eyes are so adorable," Chizuru Murayama said, adding that she found the sight of bees struggling to gather pollen "admirable."

Nobuhiro Murayama said whenever he comes across a horse chestnut tree or other plants that provide pollen for bees he thinks "maybe our children are up there."

The Murayamas are not alone in their infatuation.

Koichi Nonaka, operator of the website B-topia, which provides information on honeybees and beekeeping, said inquiries at his site had increased considerably in the last two to three years, many from people who want to raise bees.

When Nonaka, 61, first created the website nine years ago, most of the visitors to his site were post-retirement age men looking for a pastime. Today, visitors are in their 20s to 70s and half of them are women, he said.

Yoriko Wada, a freelance writer who wrote a book about beekeeping at home, said that interest in beekeeping among the general public had grown in the United States, as people have become concerned about the dying out of large populations of bees, and a shortage of bee stocks.

"If it enhances awareness of environmental issues, then it is a good thing," she said.

But some experts warn about the growing trend.

Officials at the Honeybee Science Research Center at Tamagawa University in Machida, Tokyo, say they receive dozens of inquiries each year, including calls from angry residents, some of whom complain about bees soiling laundry with their droppings, or would-be amateur apiarists who "became tired (of the hobby) after being stung."

Jun Nakamura, a professor at the center, has heard about cases where diseases that broke out from beehives left unattended had spread to professional bee farms.

Nakamura said it was important for amateurs to register their colonies and have them checked for diseases.

At the same time, Nakamura said raising bees in urban areas required "developing close relations with neighbors."

"Bees, which live in large groups, are social animals. The bottom line is that humans who keep bees should also adhere to the same social bonds," he said.(IHT/Asahi: June 22,2009)