2012 has been proclaimed the Year of the Bee. Over the last few years, the bee population has massively declined in urban areas. And faced with this crisis, designers and managers of the public space, policy-makers, urban ecologists and urban farmers are making every effort to tempt bees back to the cities.

The Schieblock roof garden is the first roof garden growing fruit and vegetables in the Netherlands. Seeds were first planted in the roof garden in April, and the first strawberries have already been harvested. Bee colonies thrive on the crops that flourish on the roof garden, and wild flowers have been planted on the lower Schieblock roof to provide the bees with an additional source of food.