Honey bees hard at work in the hive.

Urban beekeeping: the hidden rooftop hives of Cardiff

EDIBLE Adamsdown Community Garden is hosting a workshop on how to keep bees next Sunday (March 19), but they aren’t the only urban apiculturist to grace Cardiff with hosts of honeybees.
Here are some of the rooftop beehives hidden around the city you may not have known about, and a map showing where they are in the city.

 

  1. The National Museum of Wales
    The National Museum of Wales has several beehives on its roof.
    The National Museum of Wales, credit: Wikimedia

    The National Museum has been keeping bees on their roof for several years, and for a while kept a beekeeper’s blog, which can still be read here.

     
  2. The St David’s Centre

    The St David's Centre. credit: Wikimedia
    The St David’s Centre. credit: Wikimedia

    The St David’s Centre has six beehives on the roof of St David’s 2, as part of a large rooftop garden to support pollinators in the city.
     
  3. Chapter Arts

    Chapter Arts centre credit: Wikimedia
    Chapter Arts centre credit: Wikimedia

    Chapter have two honey bee hives in their staff garden which are kept in partnership with Canton Community Gardens. Throughout the summer months they operate a live stream Bee Cam which can be viewed here.

     
  4. Cardiff University – Redwood Building

    There are beehives on the roofs of several of Cardiff University’s buildings, which have been put there as part of a project to create new drugs that can fight antibiotic resistant bacteria.
    The Redwood Building is at the heart of the project’s thrust, follow updates on their bees on twitter @PharmaBees

  5. Cardiff University – Bute Building
    Beekeeping on the roof of the Bute Building. Credit: Sharon McGill
    Beekeeping on the roof of the Bute Building. Credit: Sharon McGill

    The Bute Building, home of the Cardiffian, is also part of the same university-wide project, and can be found on Twitter @BeesBute
    There are also wild bumblebees nesting in the mouth of the dragon statue on the building’s roof.

Do you know of any urban beekeepers in Cardiff we could add to our map? Comment or contact our Facebook page and let us know if you do.