Londonist » beehives

Free Beehives For Businesses

Lindsey — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 08:30:49 +0000

On the Fourth Plinth by Where The Art Is

Businesses are being offered free beehives – apiaries that is, not hairdos – in and around Holborn as inmidtown pledges support to the Capital Bee campaign.

Forget the fancy coffee machine, dress down Friday and office ping pong – beekeeping is the latest wheeze for improving staff morale. All it takes is space on the roof for an apiary or two. Workers will receive beekeeping training from a professional and the firm will be producing natural urban honey as a nifty sideline in no time.

Law firm Olswang on High Holborn has signed up, installing hives on its roof and ground level terrace, and say the first batch of beekeeping staff love it. Perhaps you’ll be buying Holborn’s finest Olswang honey at next year’s London Honey Festival.

inmidtown has pledged to persuade at least 10 businesses to give a home to a hive, to host the highest concentration of rooftop bee hives in central London and encourage bee-friendly planting in the area.

*’Midtown’ as a descriptor for that bit of London round Holborn never really caught on but the local business improvement district perseveres with the lower case name inmidtown.

Island Restaurant & Bar Now Serving its Own Honey

Chris Osburn — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:34:01 +0000

Back in the summer of 2009, the Lancaster London became the first central London hotel to install beehives on its roof. A half million bees later (talk about sweet occupancy rate!), the hotel had its first honey harvest this summer and is now making their urban honey (with a touch of taste from nearby Hyde Park no doubt) available to the public for the first time with a new breaky menu at onsite eatery, Island Restaurant & Bar. We’ve had an a.m. feast at Island before and liked it. We reckon some granola or a warming bowl of porridge made with Lancaster London bee’s honey could be nice treats with a bit of local flavour.

For more details, visit the Lancaster London’s Bee Blog.

Lancaster London Hotel Installs Beehives on its Roof

Chris Osburn — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:17:34 +0000

Honeydrippin’ photography by Chris Osburn

Back in July, half a million honey bees checked in at the Lancaster London, making it the first central London hotel to install beehives on its roof. Yesterday, the hotel’s “Bee Team” invited us round to have a taste of their golden yield alongside a few jars of honey from other hives around London and Surrey.

Londonist was truly amazed by the variation in flavour of the different honeys. The Lancaster’s sweet stuff was particularly complex and flowery in character, no doubt due to the hotel’s proximity to Hyde Park. Other honeys were more robust and waxy. Indeed, a taste of Wandsworth Floral Honey (available at the Hive Honey Shop on Northcote Road, SW11) had us reminiscing about the first time we’d chewed on a bit of honeycomb. Other honeys were more herby and vegetal. All were delicious.

Not available to guests quite yet, the hotel plans to serve their honey straight from the comb at breakfast in their restaurant, Island, and as part of their afternoon teas. Pots of honey will also be offered to VIPs and honeymooning guests, while the wax from the hives will be used to create candles for gifts.

With its Bronze Award from Green Tourism for London and the distinction of being the only hotel to win an Award for Sustainable Tourism at the Visit London Awards 2008, Lancaster London continues to demonstrate a commendably yummy dedication to responsible hospitality. With bee populations on the decline, this is news that should have honey lovers all abuzz.

For more details, visit the Lancaster London’s Bee Blog.