Flower City Beeworks

Flower City Beeworks Roof-top urban beekeeping in the Flower City of Rochester, NY 🌻
Native & urban pollinator awareness through collabs & education 🐝
DM/👀 for sales 🍯

I’ve been asked a lot how we get bees onto these rooftops — and the truth is, there’s no single method. Moving a box of ...
05/12/2026

I’ve been asked a lot how we get bees onto these rooftops — and the truth is, there’s no single method. Moving a box of 12,000 bees through buildings and several stories up usually takes some combination of coordination, ladders, forklifts, or pulleys. It’s a lot of work every time, but these rooftops make incredible homes for the bees, and it’s always worth the effort to create spaces that support both pollinators and the communities around them.

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We got a swarm call on Grand Ave. 1 hour before the rain came in yesterday, and thankfully the trampoline made this one ...
05/06/2026

We got a swarm call on Grand Ave. 1 hour before the rain came in yesterday, and thankfully the trampoline made this one an easy catch to get out of there on time!

Honeybee colonies most often swarm when they’ve grown too big for their home, causing the queen and 60% of the bees to leave to find a new home, and leave behind eggs that will turn into new queens to continue the original colony. The swarm often lands in a temporary spot, like under this trampoline, while scouts look for a new home they will re-swarm to. Swarm look intimidating, but are typically quite calm since they have no eggs or larva to defend!

These bees are headed for a nice cozy home in our beechwood apiary a few blocks away! If you ever see a swarm, please reach out to us or the swarm list on the Rochester Beekeepers Swarm Catcher List, so these pollinators can be safely rehomed!

Queen spotting with a view!  Can you find the queen bee from this  hive in this photo?  ➡️ for the answer 👑🐝
05/04/2026

Queen spotting with a view! Can you find the queen bee from this hive in this photo?
➡️ for the answer 👑🐝

This bee-utiful painting by the talented Sarah Carman Art such a cool gift from my dad, the Lord of the Bees himself, Ke...
04/30/2026

This bee-utiful painting by the talented Sarah Carman Art such a cool gift from my dad, the Lord of the Bees himself, Ken Lord ! I love the Rochester skyline as a backdrop 🌇

04/26/2026

It’s Nuc installation day at ! Our new nucleus colony (or ‘Nuc’) came in this weekend, and the bees are already digging their new home 🐝

A Nuc is a small, already functioning hive with a queen, worker bees and brood (bees about to be born), that we purchase and install into a larger hive where they’ll grow. In this video, we already got the queen into its new hive, and we can see the rest of the bees catch her pheromone scent and march on into their new hive to follow her. You can even see worker bees ‘fanning’ their wings to spread that queen scent around to tell all the other bees the queen has landed!

This particular hive lost its queen 2 weeks or so ago and has a ‘laying worker’ situation; where an absent queen occasionally causes worker bees to lay eggs in her stead, but they will only become male drone bees, leading to the hive eventually collapsing. With this new nuc, we’ll save the bees we can and help them all start a new strong colony!

We’ve got two learning opportunities this week! Join us at  and make your own native bee home for your backyard and lear...
04/19/2026

We’ve got two learning opportunities this week! Join us at and make your own native bee home for your backyard and learn how we can help native pollinators on 4/21 (ticket link in our bio!), and we’ll also be at the Earth Day Celebration on 4/25 talking about urban beekeeping and our rooftop hives! Hope to see you there 🐝

Still spots left! 🎟️ If you’re interested in seeing more pollinators in your own garden, or curious about bees but don’t...
04/15/2026

Still spots left! 🎟️

If you’re interested in seeing more pollinators in your own garden, or curious about bees but don’t want to mess with the full bee suit and a hive, join us at next Tuesday 4/23 as we discuss native bees and build our own native bee homes! Everyone will leave with their own native bee house, some local wildflower seeds, and tons of info and tips on how we can all help our most endangered pollinators right in our back yard 🐝🐝

Link for tickets in our bio 👀

🍯FREE HONEY GIVEAWAY!🍯Dandelions are a big sign that the bees have made it through winter, being one of the first main f...
04/08/2026

🍯FREE HONEY GIVEAWAY!🍯

Dandelions are a big sign that the bees have made it through winter, being one of the first main food sources for honeybees and native pollinators each spring. In anticipation of spotting these emerging lifelines for our bees, we’re giving away 2 FREE JARS of Cityflower Honey to the first 2 people who spot and send us a photo of dandelions popping up in the city of Rochester! We’re hoping to spot these any day now, so keep your eyes peeled 👀

The importance of dandelions makes it even more crucial to HOLD OFF on mowing, raking yards and garden beds, and skip the lawn treatments! These habitats and food sources are invaluable for our already at risk pollinator population 🐝🐝

Hello Flower City!  We’re breaking out of our winter cluster in this nicer weather to highlight a few things going on wi...
03/13/2026

Hello Flower City! We’re breaking out of our winter cluster in this nicer weather to highlight a few things going on with our honey as we prepare for spring. We’ll be on hold for honey sales until our first harvest this year, but there are still plenty of ways to enjoy the sweet nectar of our downtown hives 🐝

Our pals at recently released Lambón, a beer/wine hybrid featuring our Cityflower Honey! We’ve been eagerly awaiting this one and you can find it on tap NOW at

Also, Cityflower & Spring jars are currently for sale at and ! Now is a great time to stock up and prepare for those spring allergies. And while you’re there, don’t sleep on their baklava pancakes (we can’t stop thinking about them 🤤)

Our recent collab with our friends at is sold out, but peep their current lineup and keep your eyes out for future collabs as well 👀

Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming news about our rooftop hives, events, collabs and more!

Holiday honey drop! 🍯 Cityflower and Spring jars are now available at  &  just in time for your last minute gifting need...
12/19/2025

Holiday honey drop! 🍯

Cityflower and Spring jars are now available at & just in time for your last minute gifting needs! This batch was harvested straight from our rooftop hives just 2 blocks away from Voulas, so this honey is as local as it gets! Perfect as a stocking stuffer, or a gift for yourself for the warm cup of tea on Christmas morning 🎄

Unbeelievably fun times at the Winter Faire yesterday 🐝 thanks to everyone who came out, tried some honey, and listened ...
12/08/2025

Unbeelievably fun times at the Winter Faire yesterday 🐝 thanks to everyone who came out, tried some honey, and listened to me drone on about bees (that’s it for puns I promise).

We’re just about tapped out of honey for the season. Thank you all for our best year yet and for all of the support for our urban pollinators, and we can’t wait for what’s in store for 2026!

Shout out to for the impromptu photo shoot (and for an amazing set that made me SO hungry for Little Debbie Christmas tree cakes 😋)

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850 Merchants Rd
Rochester, NY
14609

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