35
FOOD
Hive mentality
Beekeeping Masterclasses at the St. Ermin's Hotel.
Esther Coles, beekeeper,
actress and half of the
popular 'Queen Bees' podcast
duo is set to cause a buzz. The
St Ermin's Hotel in St James' Park,
London, will play host to a series of
interactive beekeeping workshops
this summer with the opportunity to
get up close and personal with the
hotel's own 350,000 Buckfast bees.
Participants can choose from
a number of masterclasses and
workshops led by the outgoing, larger
than life Esther Coles, who has kept
bees in her North London allotment
for more than 12 years. As well as
being a passionate beekeeper, Esther
is a brilliant actress and co-hosts the
hugely popular 'Queen Bees' podcast
alongside her dear celebrity friend
Jane Horrocks (best known for her
role as Bubbles in AbFab).
Sure to be filled with as many
laughs as important beekeeping
insights, the masterclasses will range
in topic and have a selection of food
and drink options to be taken on
the hotel's beautiful, al fresco gin
terrace. Participants can enhance
their fab-bee-lous experience with
elegant cocktails - featuring the St.
Ermin's own gin and honey; drinks
and canapes or a delightful afternoon
tea with Pommery Champagne.
Workshops:
Beekeeping suits will be provided for
relevant classes, all are adults only
(other than the family 'Let's Waggle'
masterclass).
• Products of the Hive and Cocktail
Making includes products from
the hive masterclass followed by a
honey candle making session and
cocktails on the terrace featuring
St Ermin's own Gin. 3 June, 2-4pm,
£70.
• Cocktails, Canapes and Chat with
the Queen Bee, includes: a session
about the bees and why they are
important ,with cocktails and
honey themed canapes served on
the terrace. 24 June, 3-5pm, £80.
• Let's Waggle (Family Workshop),
includes: a lesson on what bees do,
why we need them, pollination and
how we can save the bees whilst
looking at them through the thirdfloor window.
Kids can then make
their very own bee hotels, followed
by afternoon tea in the Tea Lounge.
1 July and 26 August, 2-4pm, £48
adult £30 child (£85 total).
• Bee Club Honey Tasting, includes:
A tasting of eight different honeys
on the terrace and learning all
about the hives and medicinal uses
of honey / how it is used as an
ingredient, plus a gin and tonic. 2
September, 2-4pm, £55.
Buckfast bees
The St. Ermin's 350,000 resident
Buckfast bees reside both on its
Victorian rooftop, alongside the
thriving 'Kitchen Garden' and on the
third floor 'Bee Terrace,' where guest
can watch them go about their daily
buzziness of maintaining the hives
and making the delicious St. Ermin's
honey used throughout all of the
hotels' menus.
From these locations the bees
have fantastic access to some of
London's major parks, all within a
three-mile radius, where they collect
a wide variety of pollen and nectar,
giving their honey a truly delicious
taste. Cities like London trap heat,
meaning these bees can start
foraging earlier than rural bees and
continue later into autumn.
For the bees that do not live in the
hives, there is the 'Bee and Bee Hotel'.
These special hexagonal suites offer
a wide variety of bees a comfortable
home; bamboo nesting areas and
condominiums are for solitary bees
such as leaf cutter bees, whereas
the boxes are more suited to social
varieties like the tree bumblebee.
Following the hotel's ethos that
everyone is welcome, the 'Bee and
Bee Hotel' is also home to helpful
insects such as lacewings, ladybirds,
earwigs, woodlice and spiders that
can rest in peace amongst the
crevice stacks.
www.autographhotels.com