> I recently got to thinking about the source of nectar 
> in NYC  and it occurred to me that maybe the bulk of 
> the sugar might come from spilled  soft drinks and 
> sweet stuff in dumpsters.

There are a surprising number of trees in Manhattan and the outer boroughs.
Better still, when decorative flowering plants stop blooming, they are
ripped out and replaced with flowers that are in bloom, thus extending the
bloom for the colonies lucky enough to live here.

Given the combined experience of Chicago, Paris, and other urban areas with
high-profile beekeeping, it is fairly easy to dismiss the assumption that
bees are collecting anything from dumpsters.  We'll put our honey up against
anyone's.  There's even a study of unknown quality from 2006 claiming that
urban bees in France were healthier than rural bees.  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4621184.stm

I'd agree, given that city gardens go "organic" in terms of pesticides with
ease, and larger urban centers are well off the migratory routes that might
re-introduced varroa and other diseases over and over.

Some support for the bill currently before the NYC City Council to
"legalize" beekeeping would be appreciated.
The links are on this page:

http://GothamCityBees.com

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