Hotels & Honeybees: Hospitality Embraces World Bee Day

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pproximately 75 percent of the planet’s crops depend, at least in part, on animal pollinators. One of the most important and unfortunately, underappreciated, is the bee. Aiming to increase awareness around the ways that these insects contribute to global food supplies and promote the protection of bees and other pollinators, the United Nations has designated May 20 as World Bee Day. 

There are more than 20,000 species of bees worldwide. Climate change and large-scale agricultural production techniques including the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, monocropping (planting only one type of crop on a large scale), and migratory beekeeping practices contribute to the widespread decline of bee populations. This in turn leads to lower crop yields. Recognizing a "pollination crisis" and its links to biodiversity and human livelihoods, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity has made the conservation and sustainable use of pollinators a priority. 

With hotels often playing important community roles and increasingly looking to increase their sustainability, we were curious how different properties were incorporating beekeeping into their community farming practices and regenerative promises, as well as how they’re using the golden nectar.

At the Datai Langkawi in Malaysia, eight hives are scattered throughout the garden, each housing a colony of up to one thousand stingless Trigona Itama bees. Two years ago, a chance meeting with local beekeeper Pak Long spawned a partnership with the property that has helped to increase produce yield in the hotel garden and create bee-made products for guest consumption.

One liter of honey is harvested from the hives every six weeks — less during the rainy season when fewer flowers are in bloom. Garden Manager Zakwan Zamri and his team also harvest propolis, a resinous substance rich in antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds. The Datai has found various uses for these products; honey is on offer at breakfast and for sampling during permaculture walks, as well as for purchase in the gift shop. Pak Long also runs workshops where guests can make their own propolis soaps.

In California, The Ranch Malibu welcomed two colonies of bees to its property the day before Earth Day. The bees play an important role, pollinating the produce and wildflowers in the onsite organic garden. “We wanted to bring in and establish beehives in our garden apiary to bolster the efforts of our native pollinator population,” says Helena Van Brande, Garden Manager and Head Beekeeper at The Ranch Malibu.

“Many of the bees that already visit our garden might travel from as far as five miles away in search of nectar and pollen. However, we also recognize that it is our responsibility to ensure the future of honey bees. Beehives already face many risks of colony collapse disorder (CCD), which can be caused by any number of factors such as pesticide or herbicide poisoning, disease, and malnutrition. We want to do what we can as responsible food producers and beekeepers to ensure the future of honey bees.”

That means growing fruits and vegetables organically and in line with biodynamic principles. “The more biodiversity we have in our garden, the better we are as caretakers of the soil and environment, and the richer our produce will be as a result.” Honey also is a star ingredient in two of the property’s signature products — The Ranch Wild Honey and the Bee's Milk Facial Scrub.

“Pollinators play an essential role in helping to feed a rising world population in a sustainable way and help maintain biodiversity and a vibrant ecosystem. They contribute to building resilient livelihoods and creating new jobs, for poor smallholder farmers in particular, satisfying the growing demand for healthy, nutritious food as well as non-food products,” advises the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “Already the highest agricultural contributor to yields worldwide, pollination, with improved management, has the potential to increase yield by a quarter.” 

But, that important biodiversity is needed in cities, too, with urban hotels also venturing into urban beekeeping.

Atop the Mandarin Oriental Paris, 50,000 bees are happily buzzing, the city being designated a pesticide free-zone for the past ten years. “In keeping with Mandarin Oriental’s promise, we are committed to creating a sustainable future and to creating a variety of unique and interesting ways to do this,” said Philippe Leboeuf, General Manager . The honey is used across the menu, but also at the hotel bar in two signature drinks — one being the Homemade Honey that combines yuzu liqueur, jasmine tea with ginger, champagne and, of course, their own rooftop honey.

For their part, The Ranch Malibu and The Datai Langkawi plan to grow their apiary programs, promoting regenerative agriculture and allowing guests to learn about beekeeping practices. The beekeeping program at the Mandarin Oriental Paris — which is recognized as an eco-responsible hotel, and the first hotel in France to obtain the High Quality Environment certification (HQE) — was also extended to the group’s Doha, Santiago and Guangzhou hotels. To date, the results have been as sweet as honey.