The urban beekeeper setting up hives on Leeds office rooftops

An urban beekeeper from Leeds is installing beehives in parts of the city centre to help boost the pollinator population.

In 2024, the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust found numbers of some bee species dropped by 50% to their lowest ever levels and despite a small bounce in numbers, they remain fragile.

Tom Szpitter, 40, is hoping to bring numbers back to a healthy level by installing hives on office rooftops, airports, power stations and city canals.

He also offers workshops for office staff to teach them how to become a beekeeper themselves and any honey that is gathered from the hives is gifted to the offices.

“I like to put bees everywhere and introduce them to people,” says Tom, who founded his company Band of Bees in 2022.

“In a countryside setting, the crop flowers and then it’s gone, but in a city, you’ve got an abundance of things that flower throughout the year.

“We don’t have any pesticides like in the countryside, so the bees do really well in the city.”