城市里的养蜂行业

While most of us will simply go to the store, at least one foreigner in Beijing is promoting the idea of bee keeping as a way to quench your need for honey.

CRI's Doris Wang explains.

Reporter: They can be used in sweetening our coffee and tea or as a spread on our daily bread.

For some people, honey is an indispensable condiment and cooking ingredient in their daily lives. But, where do you buy your honey from?

While most of us urbanites buy ours from grocery stores, Safi Malik and his family gets it from the bees themselves. A co-founder of the Beijing social enterprise, Shangrila Farms, Malik is trying to promote urban beekeeping in China's capital city.

"Urban beekeeping is a movement that's been going on in North America and Europe, which is now starting to crop up all over the world. We're very excited in Beijing to try and get it started here. It's very straightforward. It's about people keeping bees in a place near their homes and trying to make the city a slightly more interesting place."

Malik has had success in urban beekeeping in Beijing's Sanlitun neighborhood. According to him, beekeeping is a very simple activity that requires minimal materials to get started.

But first, you need the knowledge of how to keep these insects alive.

"Although it's not hugely labor intensive on a small scale, it's something that you need to know well so that you know when to diagnose your hives with a potential mite infestation. You need to know when to feed them. You need to know what time of the year to help them shut down and go into hibernation. There's a lot of information involved with beekeeping. In terms of the actual beekeeping, you just need a place to do it and bee boxes."

Unperturbed by changes in temperature, Bees can be kept in all sorts of climates - from hot and humid places like Sichuan to cold and dry areas like Heilongjiang. But, they need to be kept in an open area outdoors.

"The bees should have access to flying away from the hives. I would recommend a rooftop. Balconies also work. With balconies, you need to be sensitive to your neighbors above and below you. Given that people are sensitive to bees and to insects in general, it's always best to make sure that you are treading lightly and make sure your neighbors are bee-friendly."

The most exciting thing about beekeeping, of course, is harvesting the honey. According to Malik, naturally harvested honey is more nutritious and delicious than the jars you buy in stores.

"You'll be producing a poly-floral honey, which means it has a variety of different pollen sources. With a mono-floral honey, you'll probably just have one type. This poly-floral honey might be healthier because it's drawing on all these different types of nutrients as oppose to one. With our pomegranate honey, for instance, it is well-known for reducing the risk of heart diseases."

So if you have the time and the space, come and try your hand at urban beekeeping this season. You might find yourself living a sweeter life.