How about growing your own honey bees or trying a gentle cousin of the Italian (Western) honey bee? These hardy bees are becoming popular for the urbanite that wants honey and the flowers and local trees pollinated.
Maybe one way to help our pollination problems with the vanishing honey bee is to begin to use the Italian honey bees cousin bee the Carniolans, or Carnies, a subspecies) Apis mellifera carnica.
This bee does not seem to be troubled by the Varroa mites and other diseases that are devastating the honey bees.
It defend itself successfully against insect pests while at the same time being
Extremely gentle and non aggressive in its behavior toward beekeepers.
Able to adjusting worker population to nectar availability rapidly.
The queen can decrease brood production when the quantities of nectar change. When nectar production is high the queen will produce large numbers of worker bees and when production of worker bees in the brood is slowed.
Can be kept in urban areas.
Carnies are more home bodies with a better sense of direction then the Italian honey bee.
More resistant to brood diseases.
Early risers, who forage in early morning, on cool, wet days and stay out working till later in the evening.
They stay in small groups lover the winter season.
Queen Bed Risers
Of course no bee is perfect here is the down side to Carniolans
They do not like groups and will swarm if their numbers get too large.
They produce less wax than their cousin the honey bee.
They do not like hot weather so much for bringing them to the desert.
These bees are being raised on roof tops across the country in urban setting even though it technically is against local city ordinances. The greening of America continues.