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posted on August 08, 2009

Honey that is the bees' knees


Fortnum & Mason's rooftop beehives Photo: ANDREW CROWLEY
As the Government urges people in the city to keep bees in their gardens, Judith Woods visits Fortnum & Mason's very own rooftop beehives.

By: Judith Woods
Published: 05 Aug 2009
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk

I am on the roof of Fortnum & Mason, in Piccadilly, and it's absolutely buzzing. Before me in the morning haze is the capital's finest skyline: St Paul's, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, and all is a hive of activity.

Or to be precise, four hives of activity. For here, six floors up, are Britain's most upmarket bees, housed in bespoke hives painted in Fortnum & Mason livery. It is from here that they take flight every day and head to Kensington, the window boxes of Belgravia and Mayfair, St James' Park and the herbaceous borders of Buckingham Palace, collecting pollen from the best addresses in London.

And later this month the rather superior honey that results will be sold in the store as Fortnum's Bees' Honey for the sum of £10 per half-pound jar. Admittedly, it's more than you'd pay at Sainsbury's, but it promises to have a unique flavour.

"Honey from urban bees is usually more complex and varied than those in the country, because people grow a wide variety of trees and flowers in their gardens," says Jonathan Miller, one of the store's grocery buyers, who dreamed up the idea of an in-house apiary. He admits that the inspiration came after he discovered there were hives perched atop the Palais Garnier, the Paris opera house. "I thought that if the French can do it, the British can certainly do it too," he says. "We haven't tasted this year's crop, but we expect notes of chestnut and lime, to reflect the trees in the city. Our bees will have feasted on buddleia, lavender and bergamot."

The hives are around 6ft tall, with copper pagoda roofs and each has its own façade in a diferent architectural style. Inside are combs of honey, and of course, bees. "I chose Carniolan bees, a gentle, laid-back variety from the Italian Alps," says Miller. "A commercial beekeeper would want bees with more get-up-and-go, but we didn't want agressive bees, and no one's been stung yet."

The bees were bought from a breeder in Harrow, comprising about 5,000 creatures and a single queen. She mates with the male drones, and creates female workers, who gather pollen and nectar – a honey bee will visit anything from 100 to 1,500 flowers in order to fill their "honey stomach", which is emptied in the hive, stored in the comb and ripens into honey.Fortnum's Bee Cam records the comings and goings of the workers. When production peaks, there are up to 50,000 bees in each hive. To collect 1lb of honey, a bee must travel the equivalent of twice around the world.

Earlier this year, the Government announced a £10 million initiative to investigate the dramatic decline in the population of bees, butterflies and other insects. Yesterday saw the launch of the "beehaus" – an easy-to-use modern version of a beehive – to be placed on the roof of the conservation agency Natural England's central London offices.

The wild UK bee population has been virtually wiped out as a result of viruses transferred by the varroa mite, which is kept at bay in maintained hives by regular medication.

"Bees are of crucial importance. About two thirds of our food has come from fruit and vegetables pollinated by bees, so their loss has a huge impact on agriculture as well as wildlife," says Ivor Davis, of the British Beekeepers' Association (BBA). "We are trying to encourage as many people as possible to take up beekeeping and safeguard the honey bee's future."

There are about 25,000 amateur beekeepers in Britain and 400 commercial keepers. The BBA says it has gained 3,000 members since January.

There is a waiting list for Fortnum's honey, with 500 jars due to go on sale, weather permitting (when it rains, the bees don't leave the hive).

And when the shelves start to fill, Londoners would be well advised to buy, beg or borrow a jar. What could be sweeter than this singularly posh preserve made, quite literally, in their own back gardens?

http://www.fortnumandmason.com/Fortnums-Bees/Web-cam-1.aspx


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