KYOTO—The buzzing heard on the rooftop of a hotel adjacent to JR Kyoto Station is the sweet sound of success.
Several tens of thousands of Western honeybees live on top of the Thousand Kyoto hotel in the city’s Shimogyo Ward under the Urban Beekeeping Project, now in its fourth year.
The project started in 2021 after a young employee came up with the idea to cheer up the city amid declining tourist numbers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hotel bought about 15,000 Western honeybees from a beekeeper in Gifu Prefecture and set up beehives on the rooftop. There are now between 50,000 and 60,000 honeybees in five beehives.
Several hotel employees tend to the bees during their breaks. They collected 44 kilograms of honey in the first year and nearly tripled that load to 120 kg last year.
Western honeybees have a range of 2 to 3 kilometers for their activities.
They are believed to have collected nectar from cherries, plums and white clovers in the Higashiyama district and areas along the Kamogawa river.
The use of pesticides and other chemicals is limited in these areas, providing bee-friendly environments.
“Honey that comes from spring flowers is characterized by its light and sumptuous aroma,” said project leader Marina Wada, 26. “It is also interesting to find how its taste changes from season to season.”
Wada became so hooked on beekeeping that she obtained a qualification as a honey adviser from the Japan Honey Meister Association.
The hotel, named after the city’s moniker of the “thousand-year capital,” sells the honey in jars and serves it at its restaurants and cafe.
Last year, it was poured on risotto cooked with Gorgonzola cheese and used as a sweetener in a “matcha” green tea drink.
A set of honey jars has been well-received because it allows buyers to taste the seasonally changing flavors.
The employees start selling honey from around summer.
“Try our Thousand Honey produced in the thousand-year capital,” Wada said.
