All things you need to know about living in Bee
Bee, in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, is home to 7 Swiss nationals: 0.92% of its 765 residents.
ISTAT counts 70 residents with a foreign citizenship in Bee, 9.15% of the population. The largest groups among the nationalities we follow most closely are Swiss nationals (7), French nationals (5), Russians (5).
That is above the national average for an Italian comune, which is 7.30%.
On ISTAT's well-being measures, the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola scores in the top quarter of Italian provinces for PM10 Annual average concentration and electricity from renewable sources.
It scores in the bottom quarter for overall Fixed Very High Capacity Network (VHCN) coverage and people with at least upper secondary education level (25-64 years old).
These figures describe the province, not the town. A comune can sit some way from its province's average.
Summers average a high of 24.0°C (75°F) and winters a low of -2.4°C (28°F), measured over 2015 to 2024.
Bee sees about 1 days a year above 30°C (86°F).
It gets about 1,878mm of rain a year, spread across roughly 157 days.
These come from ERA5-Land reanalysis at the comune itself, not from the nearest weather station.
OMI puts residential purchase prices in Bee at about €1,525 per square meter in the second half of 2025.
At those figures, buying costs about 24.9 years of renting the same property.
That is above most Italian comuni.
Bee population over time
By nationality
| Nationality | Citizens | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 7 | 0.92% |
| France | 5 | 0.65% |
| Romania | 5 | 0.65% |
| Russia | 5 | 0.65% |
| Ukraine | 5 | 0.65% |
| United Kingdom | 4 | 0.52% |
| Germany | 3 | 0.39% |
| Spain | 3 | 0.39% |
| Portugal | 3 | 0.39% |
| Belgium | 2 | 0.26% |
| Netherlands | 2 | 0.26% |
| Argentina | 1 | 0.13% |
| Australia | 1 | 0.13% |
| Bulgaria | 1 | 0.13% |
| Brazil | 1 | 0.13% |
| United States | 1 | 0.13% |
| Albania | 0 | 0.00% |
| Austria | 0 | 0.00% |
| Canada | 0 | 0.00% |
| Cyprus | 0 | 0.00% |
| Czechia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Denmark | 0 | 0.00% |
| Estonia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Finland | 0 | 0.00% |
| Greece | 0 | 0.00% |
| Croatia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Hungary | 0 | 0.00% |
| Ireland | 0 | 0.00% |
| Japan | 0 | 0.00% |
| South Korea | 0 | 0.00% |
| Lithuania | 0 | 0.00% |
| Luxembourg | 0 | 0.00% |
| Latvia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Malta | 0 | 0.00% |
| Mexico | 0 | 0.00% |
| Norway | 0 | 0.00% |
| Poland | 0 | 0.00% |
| Sweden | 0 | 0.00% |
| Slovenia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Slovakia | 0 | 0.00% |
| Venezuela | 0 | 0.00% |
Country of birth
| Group | Residents | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Born in Italy | 651 | 85.10% |
| Born elsewhere in the EU | 24 | 3.14% |
| Born outside the EU | 90 | 11.76% |
Swiss nationals over time
Quality of life in Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
Full BES profile for Verbano-Cusio-Ossola →Verbano-Cusio-Ossola on cost vs quality of life (province-level) →
Property prices
Buying in Bee is above the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola average of €1,396/m². Based on a single OMI micro-zone, so it describes the town as one market.
24.9 years of rent here equal the purchase price — above the national median of 22.2 years.
A ratio between two OMI prices, not a return on investment. It leaves out purchase taxes, IMU, maintenance, financing and the months a place sits empty — all of which push the real figure up. Useful for the question it does answer: whether this town looks expensive to buy relative to what renting in it costs.
A detached house here averages €1,775/m², against €1,525 for an apartment.
Compared street for street — houses and flats priced in the same neighborhood — a house costs 16% more per square meter.
OMI prices “Ville e Villini” separately from the apartments every other figure on this page describes. Nationally a house costs about 14% more per square meter, but in 450 comuni it costs less — worth checking rather than assuming.
Seismic zone
Bee is in seismic zone 4. Of the four zones, zone 1 is the highest hazard and zone 4 the lowest. The Department of Civil Protection describes zone 4 as the lowest-hazard zone, where a strong earthquake is very unlikely.
This is the legal classification the Region gave the comune, used for planning and for control of building works. It is not a forecast, and it says nothing about the building you are looking at: since the 2018 building code the design load of a new building comes from site-specific hazard, not from the zone. Have any specific property checked by a qualified engineer.
Not to be confused with the “seismic” routes of the 7% pensioner regime. Those turn on whether the comune was in the 2009 L’Aquila or 2016–17 central-Italy earthquake areas, not on its zone, and being in zone 1 does not make anyone eligible for that regime, or for any tax treatment.
See every comune on the map →Hospital, airport and daily-needs distance
Nearest hospital: Stabilimento Ospedaliero Castelli, about 9 km / 12 minutes by road from Bee (the main town).
Nearest emergency department: Stabilimento Ospedaliero Castelli, Verbania (DEA level I), about 9 km / 12 minutes by road from Bee (the main town).
Nearest airport: Milan Malpensa International Airport (MXP), about 72.6 km / 61 minutes by road from Bee (the main town).
Nearest supermarket (OpenStreetMap): Penny, about 6.4 km / 8 minutes by road from Bee (the main town).
Nearest pharmacy: Farmacia Daroui Mehdy, about 1.4 km / 2 minutes by road from Bee (the main town).
Nearest railway station (OpenStreetMap): Verbania-Pallanza, about 15.5 km / 18 minutes by road from Bee (the main town).
Measured by road from the main town of the comune (its OpenStreetMap place point; the geographic center for the few comuni with none), at free-flow speeds with no traffic. It is approximate. For Bee, a trip from your own address can take longer or shorter. Drive the route before you rely on it, and ask the local health authority which hospital serves the town. Shops, pharmacies and stations are the nearest to the main town, not to your address.
Nearby comuni
← See Bee on the interactive map
This page, as data
Every figure above sits behind the page as a value with its source, its date and its coverage attached. Your assistant reads the same record, gaps included.