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Fairmont Royal York Has 40,000 Bees, Like, On Purpose

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 100 Front Street West, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5J 1E3
July 8, 2008 at 2:15 PM | by Jenna | 0 Comments

While some hotel staffers are busying themselves finding new and innovative ways to charge insane hidden fees, others are ... harvesting their own honey on the roof of their big-city hotel, if you can believe it.

Here's something we haven't heard of before (we'll spare you the "buzz" puns): Toronto's Fairmont Royal York has added three beehives to its rooftop terrace (where the hotel already grows its own herbs and veggies) that will produce up to 700 pounds of honey every year. Sweet! (Ha! Sweet! Get it?)

And in a display of cuteness so sweet it almost stings (ha - again!), the hotel has named the hives the Honey Moon Suite, The Royal Sweet and the V.I. Bee Suite.

Reuters spoke to the brains behind the 40,000-bee operation:

"Last summer, we were up here and talking about how amazing it is that 13 stories in the air, in the middle of downtown Toronto, that ladybugs and bees and butterflies find this and so we got thinking," Executive Chef David Garcelon told Reuters on a tour of the little green oasis.

"I wondered if we could have our own beehives, so I got in touch with the Toronto Beekeepers Cooperative. It was one of those things that just came together perfectly."

Garcelon said he plans to use the honey in everything "from pastries and soups to salad dressings and ice cream."

But besides yumminess, what's in it for guests?

Well, the hotel offers daily tours during the hotel's afternoon tea service -- and, reportedly, no guests or staff members have been stung so far.

The hotel is also featuring a B&B & Bee Package (starting at $224) through September 1st, which includes breakfast for two, valet parking, souvenir bee soap and a $1 donation to the Toronto Beekeepers' Cooperative.

[Photo: Norm Betts / Reuters]

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