Bees living it up on Nob Hill

from Civil Eats:




Bees Are Here to Stay at the Fairmont
April 4th, 2011

By Twilight Greenaway


There are two gardens on the roof at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. One has a picturesque green lawn, a fountain, and an array of decorative trees and flowers. In other words, it’s exactly what you’d expect from a Nob Hill hotel. Nearby, on a smaller terrace, is something less expected: a culinary herb garden. Raised beds brim with lavender and rosemary, a small compost bin is visible in one corner, and, off to one side, honey bees busily travel to and from three large hives.

The bee hives belong to Marshall’s Farm Natural Honey, but it was the Fairmont’s executive chef jW Foster (capitalization intentional) who had the idea to put them there. Shortly after relocating from the Fairmont in Dallas, Texas, where he had started a kitchen garden complete with bee hives, Foster voiced the idea of doing something here in San Francisco. “I had gone to the farmers market in Dallas and met a local beekeeper. After talking with him on a few different visits, we decided to put some bees at the hotel.”

The idea was embraced at the SF Fairmont too, and Foster was put into contact with Helene Marshall from Marshall’s Farm. Helen, who grew up in San Francisco and has a long-standing relationship with the landmark hotel, jumped at the chance. “I used to wear my prom dress to the Fairmont,” she says. “I’ve been going there for weddings and bar mitzvahs for years. The Fairmont and I go way back!”

The garden where the hives were placed last June is located above the Tonga Room, on a sunken rooftop that gets morning sunlight and allows for a good flight pattern. “If it had been any higher, there would have been too much wind,” says Helene. At first, she and her husband Spencer, who does the majority of the beekeeping, were a little worried about the bees having enough to forage in the two-mile radius around the hotel. “Spencer was skeptical, but when he goes to visit the bees they’re always active and healthy looking,” she says. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2011/04/04/bees-are-here-to-stay-at-the-fairmont/

:woohoo: :applause: san francisco values!

...... can't these bees pull themselves up by their segmented legstraps?

:spray:

One thing I love about California are those signs that say:

"This hotel contains materials that have been determined by the State of California to cause cancer."

Well, yes, labeling hazards is a good idea. The problem is that, if you read the signs, the State of California has pretty much determined that everything IN the State of California is a toxic hazard. I wonder whether that increases the level of general skepticism about carcinogens.