Here, they are welcome
The consequences of the disappearance of bees have been alerted for a long time. In Europe, 84% of 264 crops depend on their pollination , according to data from Greenpeace . In addition, some studies suggest that without bees we would soon be left without vegetables , and that in the long run the production of coffee, milk, cheese or potatoes would also be reduced.
To prevent this from happening, some buildings and institutions have started installing beehives on their rooftops. A trend that they have already joined hotels around the world that, in addition, then offer honey to their customers. We take a walk and show you where they are.
** DANIEL HOTEL (VIENNA) **
In this hotel they have calculated that to get a single jar of honey, bees fly 40,000 times and visit approximately 7 million flowers. In this case, from the Schweizer Gardens, but also from the Belvedere Palace, the Botanical Garden and for some time now the orchard with old varieties of apples that have been included in the hotel.
The Project started in 2012 with two hives and under the supervision of beekeeper Dietmar Niessner. Now, five years later, the hotel's owner, Florian Weitzer, and his entire team can already say that it is a success: they have expanded the colonies by seven, they have achieved a product that stands out for its great nutritional variety and his clients taste it in the incredible breakfasts of his bakery or they buy it in his store.
Beekeeper Dietmar Niessner
ORIENTAL MANDARIN FROM PARIS
Here the honey tastes like the flowers of the Jardin des Tuileries, which are the ones visited daily by the bees (today more than 100,000) that host this hotel. The first hive was installed in 2012 and now they have two. Total, They produce between 30 and 50 kilos of honey a year.
To prevent these insects from getting upset, only the beekeeper in charge and some trained people from the hotel have access to them. Of course, they can be seen from some rooms and you can also enjoy their honey in one of the cocktails they prepare.
Guests who agree to collaborate in the environmental Protection (asking, for example, that the towels not be changed every day), They take a jar of honey. The initiative is part of the Mandarin's environmental project, which was launched by its manager Philippe Leboeuf with the help of a local organization, The Honey of Paris . And it is that this city has been declared 'pesticide-free' for 10 years.
One of the hives of the Mandarin Oriental in Paris
** SHANGRI-LA HOTEL (SYDNEY) **
Attention to the production of this center because last year they collected nothing more and nothing less than 270 kilos of honey. They have eight hives and in each between 60,000 and 80,000 bees.
Their project began in 2013 and they were the first hotel in the city to launch an initiative of this type. They did it in collaboration with The Urban Beehive and their beekeeper Doug Purdie, who visits the apiary every three weeks to make sure everything is okay. Once or twice a year, it also offers a 'masterclass' accompanied by an outdoor dinner.
Although with these results you can already say that it is a success, they do not rule out expanding the project. At the moment, Shangri-la patrons can't visit the apiary, but they do find this homemade and unprocessed honey in their breakfasts and in some other dishes and mixed drinks.
Among bees on the roof of the Shangri-La
** HAM YARD (LONDON) **
This center opened its doors in 2014 and after a year it had already collected its first honey. It is a small production with ** two hives that are surrounded by a garden with the plants that help them the most, and that give the honey the aroma of local flowers.**
Who is in charge is Camilla Goddard, the resident beekeeper of the Ham Yard hotels and owner of Capital Bee. She regularly visits the bees, though she does so mostly in the summer to harvest the honey that guests can then take at breakfast or at the bar in the form of a cocktail. In this hotel, they yes they can access the garden.
Beekeeper Camilla Goddard
**ST. ERMIN'S HOTEL (LONDON) **
If you want to learn to manage the hives and collect honey , your place is Saint Ermin's. Here every September is celebrated 'the month of honey' and Camilla Goddard, who is also the beekeeper in charge of the 350,000 bees from this place, she offers different workshops for those who want to sign up.
Honey is also the main ingredient in the Afternoon Tea and in some of the cocktails on the menu, such as its famous 'Bowler Hat'. A good excuse, then, to see up close the four hives they have and taste this flavored product, in this case, with the flowers of Buckingham Palace and St James’ Park.
Tastes like flowers from Buckingham Palace and St James' Park
FAIRMONT HOTELS
Fairmont Hotels began a decade ago installing apiaries and bee hotels at its facilities around the world. **It is part of their sustainability program **, which was expanded last year with ten more hives.
We find them in New York, Boston or Washington, but they also have in Kenya or China . At the Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver there are more than 500,000 bees that last year produced 300 kilos of honey! Here, during the summer they make daily visits to explain, for example, that the bees make more than 50 trips a day of 5 km each to collect food and empty it into the hive.
In this hotel they even have a menu with 13 foods that need pollination. And they are clear that much of what we eat depends on the survival of this animal.
“We often hear people complain of fear when they see a bee in a garden, but the reality is that not seeing a bee in a garden is much more dangerous” explains Laurie Adams, executive director of the Pollinator Partnership, an organization dedicated to the protection of pollinators, with whom Fairmont Hotels has partnered for its projects.
And your hotels in Spain? For now there is none with beehives on their roof, but they tell us that it is among their plans.
Bees at Fairmont Hotels
** WESTIN GRAND HOTEL (BERLIN) **
Here the hit is the homemade honey ice cream , although the fruity vinaigrettes and the honey buns they are not far behind. The idea of installing beehives came from the hotel's previous managing director, but the current one has taken it so seriously that he has become a beekeeper himself.
Thus, Thomas Hattenberger is, in addition to the head of the Westin Grand Hotel, also the owner of the four hives that they have on the roof with a view of the Reichstag and a production that reaches 250 kilos of honey per year. Honey, by the way, that tastes like lime blossom that bees pollinate either on the famous Unter den Linden boulevard or in the Tiergarten park.
At the Westin Grand Hotel you have breakfast with honey
** HOTEL CLARION CONGRESS (PRAGUE) **
In this Prague hotel the first harvest of honey tastes of chestnut, the second to acacia and the third to linden flowers . In total they have more than 250,000 bees working on his roof and producing almost 200 kilos of product per year , although it depends on weather conditions, it can fluctuate quite a bit from season to season.
They started in 2016 and who is in charge is the technical head of the hotel, Vladimir Siber . He is the one who at the end of summer begins to prepare the hives for winter and makes sure that the animals have enough food to last until spring. During the cold months the work is basically maintenance and repair, and above all check that the space is enough for the hive to grow.
Visits by guests are restricted, although different tours have been organized. What they do have assured is being able to take it during breakfast. The hotel is part of the Czech Union of Beekeepers.
Clarion Congress Hotel
LANCASTER LONDON HOTEL
This was one of the first hotels in the city in install hives . It was 2009 and he already had half a million bees. In 2011 they also organized the first London Honey Show . Here the honey is citrus-flavoured (from Hyde Park lime trees) and is used for breakfast, but also for dessert at their organic Island Grill restaurant. And it is that this center wants to become one of the "green" hotels in London.
Photos must be credited: RICHARD TWILTON
*Report originally published on September 14, 2017 and updated on September 18.
Lancaster London Hotel