České Budějovice offers live streaming of birds and bees from the city

The public can watch falcons, ravens, seagulls and bees online

On 13 May, České Budějovice (Czech Budejovice) announced that people from all over the world can live stream the city’s nature online. More specifically, they can watch bees and birds such as falcons, ravens, and seagulls.

Although the public has previously been able to stream separate channels, the municipality has now made this easier. That is, it has created a specific page that brings together all the channels so that the public can more easily access the live stream of their choice.

The bees are located on the roof of the city’s town hall

Since 2013, four beehives have been located on the roof of České Budějovice’s town hall. Thanks to a webcam which has been installed on this roof, people can now watch the bees and those who take care of them.

Deputy Mayor Ivo Moravec noted that the city had received criticism as people were initially sceptical of having bees in such an environment. “When we started, it was not very common to keep bees on the roof of an office in the city. Tourists and visitors to the town hall tours often ask how “urban” bees benefit from such a location and how good their honey is.

The result of analysis by the Research Institute of Beekeeping in Dol has shown years ago that the air in cities has no effect on the quality of honey. Bees can reliably filter out possible harmful substances from honey,” Moravec explained.

It is interesting to note that České Budějovice’s town hall offers small jars of “Town Hall Honey” as gifts to important visitors. Taking this further, these jars can also be bought from České Budějovice’s Tourist Information Centre.

Falcons, ravens, and seagulls

In 2016, a special aluminium booth was installed the roof of the city’s Nové Vráto heating plant. A year later, a female peregrine falcon – a protected and endangered species – appeared. Since then, 10 falcon cubs were born, and webcams were set up.

In addition to this, cameras were also installed near a raven’s nest in the city two months ago in March 2021. Finally, the public can also live stream seagulls from the Vrbenské ponds located in a nature reserve. The reserve is home to over 193 species of birds, the most prominent of which is the black-headed gull.

To view these four live streams, visit the website of the České Budějovice Municipality.