Luxury hotel W Taipei announced yesterday that it has been participating in an urban bee-keeping program since November.

General manager Cary Michael Gray says W Taipei has 100-thousand bees in an apiary on its roof, and harvested 3-4 liters of honey earlier this month.

The project is part of a program initiated by Syin-Lu Social Welfare Foundation to tackle the global bee crisis and improve urban ecology in Taiwan.

Bee expert, Chen Yue-wen of Ilan University, says Taipei is ideal for keeping honey bees, since it is relatively safe from agricultural pesticides, and provides shelter from typhoons and other harsh weather conditions.

Also, Taipei’s public parks, where flowers of a wide variety are grown all year round, provide a stable source of pollen for bees.

Chen stresses that the bees are no danger to people, since the beehives are usually on top of high rise buildings.

 

W Taipei photo source
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hoto source