The Beehive and Beat Hôtel Are Now in the Beekeeping Business

Beat Hotel’s seared duck breast with local honey, black beluga lentils, and a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. Photo provided

The Beehive and Beat Hôtel are taking farm-to-table to the next level. Working in conjunction with The Best Bees Company and Urban Beekeeping Laboratory & Bee Sanctuary in the South End, the two sister restaurants are now maintaining their own honeybee hives. Both restaurants are tending to identical 2 by 3-foot colonies of non-aggressive Italian honeybees that draw their nectar from nearby flowers, most commonly from the Public Garden and neighboring South End sites.

Each of their hives began with 10,000 bees and has the potential to grow to 80,000 bees by harvest time in late summer or early fall. The Beehive, BeatHôtel, and The Best Bees Company are using profits from the project to research and improve the health of honeybees, which have been dying off at an alarming rate since 2011.

The Beehive and Beat Hôtel intend to incorporate their respective honey harvests into their menus by August. Below is a preview of their fall honey-themed specials:

Beat Hôtel

Charred radicchio salad with fresh peaches, herbed ricotta, white balsamic, and honey

Seared duck breast with local honey, black beluga lentils, sugar snap peas,  and a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette 

Banana honey bread pudding

The Beehive

Ginger honey BBQ ribs

Za’atar crusted Ahi Tuna with couscous, and honey glazed carrots

Grilled flatbread pizza with buffalo mozzarella , prosciutto, fig, and local honey

Wild honey cheesecake

Beat Hôtel, 13 Brattle St., Cambridge; 617-499-0001 or beathotel.com.

The Beehive, 541 Tremont St., Boston; 617-423-0069 or beehiveboston.com.