Copenhagen volunteers keep city hives and sometimes give the honey away

On a rooftop in central Copenhagen, Bybi keeps honeybees and a rotating crew of volunteers. The Guardian reported on October 14, 2026, that the collective has 80 to 100 colonies, not only on that roof but on businesses, schools, restaurants, and municipal buildings, and that the hives produce between four and six tonnes of honey a year. Between 40 and 50 volunteers pass through over the year. A core team of about 15 handles the practical work.

The honey is jarred by street. Founder Oliver Maxwell told the paper each jar tastes like the flowers people planted, the weather, and the choices the bees made. Some of the honey is sold in small shops. Some is given away at weddings and festivals, with a request that the recipient share it and plant a flower. Volunteers, including disabled people who pack at their own pace, put flower seeds into packets, and most of those seeds are given away.

Aref Haboo, the principal beekeeper, learned the craft over 18 years in Afrin, in northern Syria, and now works the city's hives. Maxwell started Bybi in 2010 after moving to Denmark in 2007. The Guardian's portrait is of this collective and the honey it gives away or sells. It is not a survey of every beekeeper in Copenhagen.