The local food movement has made its way into the hotel industry, and some
properties are going  a little crazy with sourcing their ingredients. Bee crazy
that is. 

More and more hotels are harvesting honey from their own rooftops and kitchen
gardens.

It’s kind of nuts, considering that once upon a time, they’d call an
exterminator if a bee hive showed up on the property.

But at the The Westin Annapolis, the rooftop beehive can produce as much as 120
pounds of honey each year.

Now granted, you probably don’t want to get to close to their hive, seeing that
there are as many as 35,000 honey bees buzzing around. But the hive is visible
from guest rooms so you can see the action.

The LEED-certified Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte has two beehives on its vegetated
roof. That’s right, the entire roof keeps the building cool while providing
organic produce and herbs, as well as honey that goes straight into the kitchen.

This past summer, the Intercontinental Boston launched its first working hive
with 10,000 bees that quickly grew into 40,000.

Boy, talk about the birds and the bees. The product will be featured in the
hotel restaurant, which coincidentally, is called Miel—French for “honey.”

If that doesn’t get the foodies buzzing, I don’t know what will.

Learn more in our Culinary Travel section.

And get more of our Daily Travel Tips here.