ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ)—There’s a buzz in Annapolis about what’s going on at the Westin Hotel, and the buzz is about bees.
Suzanne Collins explains it was a brainstorm of the executive chef who wanted fresh honey on hand.
There’s a lot of talk about drones mating with the queen at the Westin Hotel in Annapolis these days.
Executive chef James Barrett learned all about honey bees from his father, and he’s just installed two hives on the second floor roof.
“This year we’ll see how they do, but next year we should be pulling 60 plus pounds of honey out of these, so quite a bit,” said Barrett.
The purpose is threefold. The chef will create gourmet offerings using the honey. The bees will pollinate crops at farms as far as 600 acres away in Anne Arundel County, improving yield. Also, there’s been a serious and unexplained decline in the the honey bee population, and this will help.
“One of the things we are working on right now is a honey-lacquered, hot smoked salmon, comes out under a smoking glass, and we’re working on some honey cashew brittle infused with Old Bay,” said Barrett.
The general manager of the Westin Hotel embraced his executive chef’s unusual suggestion because it fit with Anne Arundel County’s agricultural history.
“When Chef James brought it to us as an idea, we just fell in love with it,” said Michael Vance, manager. “It was such a passion of [his], and it just seemed to become a natural fit for us here.”
Just in case all those hotel guests wonder what all those bees are doing out on the roof, they’ll be provided information in their room and maybe even a sample bottle of honey to take home.
Barrett transitions from his chef jacket to his beekeeper coat when the lunch crowd dies down. He mellows the bees with smoke, knowing all about their honey and their habits.
“The drones’ whole purpose in life is to mate. That’s their only purpose,” said Barrett.
Barrett also teaches about bees at Anne Arundel Community College. His family owned a big farm at the Anne Arundel County/Calvert County line for generations, and that’s where he learned about bees.
To see a video from the news broadcast, visit http://wjz.com/local/bees.westin.hotel.2.1664793.html.
