By Gigi
Yes, the bees. Specifically, urban bees. And even more specifically, kept urban bees. Like Moon Boots, swing dancing and Uggs before it, urban beekeeping has become something of a thing, combining the sub-things of consuming all-natural and locally made foods. Bees also have a positive environmental and agricultural effect in that they pollinate flowers and, of course, make honey. 
Urban beekeepers were thrilled when, in March, New York City’s board of health voted to lift the ban on beekeeping, legalizing hundreds of clandestine hives. The vote, which was unanimous, amended the health code to allow residents to keep hives of Apis mellifera, the common, non-aggressive honeybee. Beekeepers are required to register with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and must be able to ensure both that they can control bee swarms and that hives don’t endanger pedestrians or neighbors.
Interestingly enough, beekeepers had much more of a presence in New York City in the first few decades of the 20th century. Beehives even existed inside Radio City Music Hall and on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History. But the number of hives dwindled and by the 1950s, there were almost none left. Urban beekeeping was officially outlawed in New York City in 1999 when honeybees were put on a banned animal list that included vultures, iguanas, ferrets and whales.
Now, as urban beekeeping becomes more prolific, online sites give the steps on how to become an urban beekeeper, including describing who you need to ask for permission, what time of year to start, what you need, how to put together a hive (some of which tend to look like multicolored filing cabinets) and how to keep the hive going.
One group, the New York City Beekeepers Association, encourages beekeeping newbies: it offers classes, matches people who want to tend to bees with people who have room to keep hives and—our favorite part—sells beekeeping starter kits.