The Honey Trap: How the Good Intentions of Urban Beekeepers Risk Ecological Disaster

Exposing the misguided assumptions behind an altruistic trend.

The  last decade has seen an explosion of urban beekeeping in the US,  Canada, and Europe, a well-intentioned response to perceived threats to  the global honey bee population. Many thousands of people have taken up  this seemingly environmentally friendly hobby, tending backyard and  rooftop hives (or paying a company to do so) and encouraging honey bees  to make honey and pollinate flowers. What could be wrong with that?

Quite a lot, in fact. In The Honey Trap,  scientist and author Dana Church demonstrates that despite reports to  the contrary, honey bees are nowhere near extinction. Rather, their  nurturing by urban beekeepers is having far-reaching and potentially  devastating consequences for the 19,999 other species of bees on the  planet, with knock-on effects for plants, both cultivated and wild, and  our ecosystems more generally.

With engaging  storytelling and a wealth of knowledge about bees and their ways, Church  unravels the complexities of human interactions with our winged friends  and demonstrates how dangerously selfish our thinking can be. It's a wake-up call for humanity to embrace sustainable practices and protect  these vital pollinators before it's too late.