Rooftop Garden & Honey Tasting

To view New York city as an urban jungle, a fast moving yet enigmatic fusion of concrete, high rises, commerce, technology and culture would be the prerogative of the average visitor or resident. And if one looks above, ventures high atop tall roofs and amidst majestic buildings there are surprisingly pleasing vistas of green.

At the Inter Continental Barclay hotel in NY it's all about 'bee-ing.' Four colonies of honey bees arrived on the hotel's 15th floor rooftop sometime in mid 2011. These colonies or hives help pollinate the hotel's herb and fruit garden and the flora of the hotel's midtown neighborhood. The honey that is produced is used in a variety of ways from culinary infusions at the Barclay Bar & Grill to candles for guest amenities. The kitchen where we watched the extraction of honey from the hotel's beehives and where honey extracted from different parts of the city was sampled by us, has been extended to the NYC beekeeping organization to use for honey harvesting and bottling. "The main reason to introduce beehives is to shoulder our share of responsibility in helping to keep our urban ecosystem as healthy as possible," says General Manager Herve Houdre.

The hotel is powered by 100% wind energy and striving to make the hotel as eco-friendly as possible, the Barclay has a waste management program which includes composting and reduced paper consumption. Is this the future of the urban world? In times when we are experiencing extreme changes in our weather patterns, an ecosystem which has been deeply affected by human consumption and waste...are we devising ways to control and sustain our natural resources? I'm highly positive and looking forward to such steps being implemented throughout cities around the world.

 111 East 48th Street,
 New York, NY
 Tel: 212 755-5900