The interest in home farming, or urban farming, has been spreading
across the country. In New York City rooftops are becoming gardens,
chicken coops — and even the home of thriving bee hives. The bees
gather nectar from blossoms and plants around the city and transform it
into liquid gold with their alchemy. You can try some of this precious
product with this Manhattan Rooftop Honey Flight.
Manhattan Rooftop Beehives (Image via New York City Beekeepers Association)
Beekeepers, like those who belong to the New York City Beekeepers Associate, have beehives that they maintain on rooftops all over the island. The practice became legal in the city in 2010 (it had been banned in 1999) and people have swarmed to take up the activity. The number of people raising bees in the city increases every year.
Some of those keeping bees are businesses, such as the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. They raised honey to use in special drinks, salad dressings, and even as a part of their wild mushroom chowder. Some of the hobbyists have been trying to turn their beekeeping into small businesses. For most of them the best they can do is break even.
Manhattan Rooftop Honey Flight
Enter Zeke Freeman, a man with a plan. He was raised in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a rich history of homegrown fruits and vegetables, and developed a passion for artisinal food production. As an adult he studied food management and culinary arts. In time he fell in love with the use of real raw honey and its culinary power. These days his company Bee Raw Honey is making single varietal honeys and honey flights available nationwide. He promotes the importance of American family-owned apiaries
To that end he has partnered with one of the beekeepers in Manhattan to poduce a flight of four honeys that were created in the unusual and unlikely location of the rooftops of Manhattan. These honeys are collected from different areas of the island by fourth generation beekeeper Andrew Cote who runs family-owned apiaries around the city. The honeys in the flight are named for those areas. You can take a sweet tour through Hell’s Kitchen (fall harvest), Central Park West (fall harvest), Highline (spring harvest), and Harlem (late summer harvest).
To try all four tastes in the Manhattan Rooftop Honey Flight, click here.
Sources: Uncommon Goods, Live Science, Facebook, Bee Raw Honey
