Turns out London is the place to bee.
Rumour has it that the human race would die out if bees weren’t around. We’d maybe make it four years without them and then BOOM! That would be it. The end of the world.
At the rate things are going, this is a frightening possibility. The number of bees is dramatically falling and research suggests that the population has as much as halved since 1985.
That said, I do believe that peoples’ general opinion of bees is changing, which is a giant leap in the right direction. This tweet in particular really speaks to me:
I remember when I used to see a bee and go, YIKES a bee! And now I’m all, Oh wow a bee, hi! You ok there? Need anything? Can I get you a drink? A cushion? Wanna borrow the car?
— Tracey Thorn (@tracey_thorn) May 23, 2019
Surprisingly, London seems to be an environment where bees are thriving. (We’re a National Park City, don’t you know.) And there are loads of businesses that are doing their bit to assist these helpful little guys…
Take The Chesterfield Mayfair hotel, for example. They have three hives sitting on their rooftop in the heart of London, housing hundreds of thousands of bees. They fly around the surrounding areas—making trips to Green Park, Hyde Park, St James’s Park, etc—on the epic hunt for nectar. We paid them a visit and it was such wholesome experience!
The Chesterfield bees produce one crop a year, and it tends to be harvested during the summer. The amount of honey all depends on the weather, but there’s always enough for the hotel guests’ toast at breakfast – and to create some excellent honey cocktails! This little trick means The Chesterfield’s food miles are kept to the absolute minimum, and the honey is also as delicious as can be – London’s gardens are often filled with exotic flowers that add depth to the flavour of the honey.
The Chesterfield, along with all the Red Carnation Hotels, goes to great lengths to minimise their impact on the environment, and this is a great example of how they’re doing that. So, if you’re planning a trip to The Chesterfield, make sure you try some of their very own Mayfair honey… be it on toast or in a yummy cocktail from the Terrace Bar.
In other news, and in honour of Bees’ Needs Week (July 8-14), Carnaby Street has been renamed ‘Carnabee Street’. The iconic arch has been given a bee-themed makeover, and the street is playing host to a pop-up ‘Hive’ where you can learn all about bees with educational installations, games and talks. Bees’ Needs Week helps to raise awareness of bees and other pollinators. Read all about it here.
