“Honey, I’m home” has a whole different meaning at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, in London’s Hyde Park district. While all other hotels in the world take great pains to rid themselves of pesky little bugs, this ecology-themed one has installed honey bee hives on its roof housing more than half a million little winged residents.  

There’s no chance the honey bees will need to venture below into the human hotel rooms, because they’ll be tended full time by four bee experts. The roof hives will be surrounded by an array of plants, including flowers, bushes and trees. During the spring and summer season, the honey bees will sip the natural nectar and help pollinate the plants for future growth. During cold weather, the hotel’s bee team will supply hive heating and nectar feeding stations.

One of the reasons for the project is that England’s natural bee populations have been decreasing because of unusually cold weather, disease and other factors. The hotel’s bee colony is intended to encourage others throughout the UK  to encourage the growth of honey bee projects.

In addition to the Royal Lancaster’s intent to keep a flourishing honey bee colony as an example for others, there are other benefits. Honey produced by the hotel's bees will be served to guests fresh from the honeycombs at the hotel's restaurants. The hotel will use bees’ wax from the hives to make candles for sale in the gift shop.
 
If you’ll be in London, stop in for a visit to the rooftop hives, or if you want more information about the honey bee hotel, go to www.royallancaster.com