Seongdong-gu Operates 'Urban Beekeeping Self-Support Project' in the Heart of the City

Low-Income Beekeepers Dreaming of a Second Life: Managing 95 Hives Across 10 Locations in Seoul, Expecting 400kg Harvest

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “When I was in despair due to business failure, these honeybees opened the sweet second act of my life.”

Despite the July heat, Mr. Kim (in his 50s, single middle-aged household) is sweating as he carefully opens the beehive, dressed in thick work clothes.

Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) operates the ‘Urban Beekeeping Self-Sufficiency Project’ to create jobs for low-income people who want to work but have no employment opportunities.

Started in 2018, this project was carried out through an agreement with ‘Urban Bees,’ a social enterprise related to urban beekeeping. Urban Bees manages 95 beehives at 10 locations throughout Seoul, including Seoul Forest, provides beekeeping skills training to participants, and supports the supply of beehives and related materials.

There are a total of seven participants who, after a period of acquiring beekeeping skills until last year, are expected to begin full-scale harvesting this year and produce about 400kg of honey.

Lee Seon-hwa, director of the Seoul Seongdong Regional Self-Sufficiency Center, said, “Many participants in the self-sufficiency project are low-income and have already experienced failure in employment or family life, leading to mental exhaustion. We planned this project to provide these people with healing for mind and body through nature in the heart of the city and to offer jobs.”

Participant Mr. Lee (56) said, “Raising bees and chatting with colleagues makes the day pass by before I know it, and I am grateful to feel that I am alive. I want to study bees harder and live as a recognized urban beekeeping expert.”

In addition to the urban beekeeping project team, Seongdong-gu operates a total of 15 project teams, including market-friendly businesses such as cafe operation, waste collection, convenience store operation, and public-friendly businesses such as bicycle recycling and free rental stations, free laundromats, home repairs for vulnerable groups, and disinfection services.

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “In these difficult times, we are striving to discover many self-sufficiency job projects like urban beekeeping where honest and sweet rewards can be tasted according to effort. We will do our best to create a solid foundation that can continue hope.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.