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Urban beekeeping is the practice of beekeeping in an urban environment. It has become popular in cities such as New York and London, which saw a 220% increase in beekeepers between 1999 and 2012. And the practice has been recently made legal in many American cities, including New York.

Unperturbed by urban pollutants, some say bees from city apiaries are "healthier and more productive than their country cousins". A study done by a French beekeeker association states this is due to a lack of pesticides and more varied forage. As cities have limited greenspaces, however, the increasing popularity of the hobby may lead to lower honey yields as has happened in London and New York. (No studies or empirical data has been gathered to support this claim, which may originate from beekeeping companies themselves.) Another problem created by a surfeit of bees is swarming, when a queen leaves an overcrowded colony with a retinue of workers to start her own.

The number of bee hives varies greatly from city to city, and official counts may be inaccurate; a high proportion of hives are not registered. In 2012, an estimated 75% of London apiaries were operated without license. That same year about half of New York hives were thought to be unlicensed. An estimated 3,200 apiaries exist in London, 400 in New York, and at least 100 in Toronto. Melbourne, Australia, hosts about 60 hives. The City of Chicago has sponsored eight rooftop beehives.

Urban beekeeping can be considered part of the local food movement.

In some cities, beekeeping is done by organizations as well as individuals. Many are hotels. In London, bees are kept at department store Fortnum & Mason, Lambeth Palace, the London Stock Exchange, the Natural History Museum, and at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, etc. Hives once stood atop the Bank of England as well. In New York, the InterContinental The Barclay Hotel, the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, the York Prep School, and the Bank of America Tower (New York City) all keep bees. New York City also has the world's largest rooftop commercial apiary located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. In Paris, bees are found at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Opéra Garnier. Toronto counts as host to apiaries the Fairmont Royal York (in fact, the Fairmont Hotel Group keeps bees at 18 of its properties ), the Opera House, and Casa Loma. In Denver, the Brown Palace Hotel has its own hive, and The White House is one place bees are kept in Washington DC.

Urban Honey Co. in Melbourne was the first company to build a network of rooftop and urban hives in Australia. Hosts range from 5 star hotels to community groups. Another urban beekeeping business in Melbourne City is Melbourne City Rooftop.

Other cities, such as Banja Luka, prohibit beekeeping.