CLEVELAND, OHIO—The InterContinental Hotel Cleveland is the first hotel in Northeast Ohio to install an on-site bee apiary, with the purpose of generating natural honey for use in the Table 45 restaurant and furthering the hotel’s sustainability initiatives.
An estimated 35 pounds of pure honey will be harvested annually from the beehive. The honey can also be bottled, labeled and used as guest amenities, and possibly sold in the hotel gift shop.
The apiary installation follows the recent recognition of Table 45 as a two-star Certified Green Restaurant from the Green Restaurant Association. Table 45 and the other InterContinental Cleveland restaurants (C2 and North Coast Café) are among just a few Northeast Ohio establishments to receive the certification.
“We are choosing to take a leadership position with our sustainability initiatives at the InterContinental Cleveland,” said Campbell Black, regional director of operations and general manager, InterContinental Cleveland. “Our operations are now more efficient and environmentally responsible, paving the way for all three of our on-site restaurants to earn the Certified Green Restaurant recognition. Our bee apiary elevates these efforts, allowing us to harvest honey right outside our door for use in food and drinks that our guests can enjoy.”
Three Other Hotels in Group Have Apiaries
The Cleveland hotel is the fourth in the InterContinental Hotel Group to establish a bee apiary on hotel property. The other hotels are in New York and Boston.
The beehive is currently home to 60,000 bees, and is situated on the fifth floor roof of the InterContinental Hotel. The bees are in the process of locating new food sources and foraging for the remainder of the warm weather months, traveling up to five miles before returning to their hive.
The typical life expectancy for a worker bee is four to six weeks. In the winter months, the bee population will drop; however, the hive maintains a temperature of 95 degrees. It will take about a year for the hive to become fully operational.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we rely on the honeybees for more than 30 percent of our food supply. Honeybees are responsible for pollinating more than 100 crops, including fruits, vegetables nuts and seeds. However, in the past three years, more than one in three honeybee colonies has died nationwide, an epidemic commonly referred to as “colony collapse disorder.”
Table 45 is participating in the InterContinental Hotels Group’s World Class Beverage Program to help raise awareness about this epidemic and the plight of the honeybees. As part of this initiative, the restaurant is offering several cocktails in the bar, lounge and restaurant this fall which are centered on Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey Whiskey.
Go to the InterContinental Hotel Cleveland.
