Look at some previous work: The Jozi Bee Hotel Project

The Jozi Bee Hotel Project started during the pandemic in 2021 in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. The project was a joint effort between 347 residents of Johannesburg and researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand. The residents were were given standardised bee hotels and asked to host and monitor the solitary bees inhabiting these hotels. Solitary bees—hardworking pollinators that don’t live in hives like honeybees—are crucial for our environment. And the project mainly wanted to find out if the biodiversity of solitary bees were affected by:

🐝 Household income – Do wealthier neighborhoods have more bees?

🌿 Green space – Does having more parks and trees nearby matter?

📍 Landscape layout – Do bees prefer patchy green spaces or big, connected ones?

Money Talks (Even for Bees!)

The biggest shock? The strongest predictor of bee abundance wasn’t trees, flowers, or fancy gardens—it was income. Areas with higher household incomes had significantly more solitary bees. Why? Likely because wealthier people tend to invest more in gardens, creating bee-friendly spaces with diverse flowers and nesting spots.

Surprisingly, the amount of green space or how it was arranged didn’t seem to make much difference. Even in places with plenty of vegetation, if the area wasn’t well cared for (or didn’t have the right kinds of flowers), bees weren’t interested.

The Bigger Picture

This study raised important questions about who benefits from urban biodiversity. If wealthier neighborhoods naturally attract more pollinators, lower-income areas may be missing out on the benefits of having a thriving bee population—like better plant pollination and a healthier urban ecosystem.

The takeaway? Urban conservation efforts shouldn’t just focus on adding green spaces—they should also ensure that all communities have access to resources that make those spaces truly bee-friendly.

So, if you want to help the bees (and other wildlife), consider adding some flowers to your garden, balcony, or even a sidewalk planter. The bees will thank you! 🐝✨