Once a week Cameo Woods tends her beehives on a rooftop in the Mission District of San Francisco. She is part of a growing urban beekeeping movement and says the view from above is the bee’s knees.

“I specifically picked this rooftop so that I would be in the most beautiful urban setting possible,” Woods said.

And when she’s not tending her hives, she’s tending her store, Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper, which she says is the only urban beekeeping store in the world.

“What we do here is we train people to learn about bees, bee biology, and how to take care of bees in the unique environment of an urban setting— rooftop beekeeping, backyard beekeeping,” Woods said.

She opened her store last summer and sells all things relating to bees, including locally made honey, beeswax, beekeeping supplies and a couple of times a year she even sells bees.

“The bee is something that is unique in that its really captured poets and writers and scientists. It’s a really unique animal. It also provides sustenance, not only in honey, but also in its pollination activities,” Woods said.

Bees help grow a third of our nation’s food and California relies on bee pollination to grow the world’s most almonds. But in the last four years commercial beekeepers say colony collapse disorder has been killing their buzz.

“We’re not really sure whether it’s some sort of virus or a parasite or what’s causing it. It might even be a pesticide that’s being used,” Woods said.

And although commercial bees are still disappearing, the epidemics widespread media attention has only helped urban beekeeping, inspiring many to join the movement.

“I realized I knew nothing about a bee’s role in keeping everything together and the balance of nature that is so dependent on the work that the bee does. And urban beekeepers tend to raise bees with the strongest genetics. If I can play a part in doing some of that, I’m happy to and it’s a lot of fun,” Michelle said, who is a client of Woods’.

Woods said the growing number of urban beekeeping has also been good for business.

“People have been very receptive to the store. I think it’s the right store at the right time in the right place,” Woods said.

But things weren’t always this sweet. In fact, Woods happened upon beekeeping after facing a buzz kill of her own.

“I used to be involved in the high-tech field in Silicon Valley and I got laid off,” Woods said.

Woods said she decided to branch out and get a beekeeping hobby to fill her time but couldn’t find any classes or stores to get her started.

“I decided if I really was interested in beekeeping, I’ll just go all the way and I opened up a store,” Woods said.

As for the future of commercial bees, Woods said sometimes the best solution really is to branch out.

She said, “This epidemic has made people realize that we shouldn’t hinge the entire future of the human race upon the honeybees’ health.”