Liquid Gold: The Sweet Rewards of the Urban Beekeeping Boom

By Jeanne O’Brien Coffey Bees are Kristin Canty’s happy place. The restauranteur, who owns farm-to-table restaurant Woods Hill at Pier 4 in Boston, loves to sit with a cup of coffee near her hives and let the bees buzz around her as they go from flower to flower. “My favorite thing is the peacefulness of watching them do their work,” says Canty, who has a farm that produces honey, vegetables, and grass-fed meat for her restaurants in Boston and Concord, Massachusetts. Photo: Nicolas MatheusThe Interior ArchiveTrunk An uptick in beekeeping—and increasing interest in its sweet byproduct—has blossomed (pun intended) recently, in tandem with trends like plant-based foods and reducetarianism, according to the National Honey Board. Chefs are finding creative new uses for honey, experimenting with it everywhere, from antipasti to ice cream. On the heels of the hot honey craze, smoked honey, fermented honey, frozen honey, and creamed honey have caught on. Mild enough to offer versatility in recipes, the bee byproduct is also richer, less sweet than sugar (not to mention better for you) and has more depth—all of which yields fascinating possibilities for flavor-building, according to chefs and foodies. Also in its favor is the fact that honeys have distinct terroir, similar to wine, based on the region they’re from, the flowers that went into them, and the bees that produced them. These factors have combined to turn a time-honored staple that humans have enjoyed for almost 9,000 years into the trendiest of ingredients. Photo: Trinette ReedStocksy ECO BUZZ From a beekeeper’s perspective, the environmental appeal is often as delicious as the honey, says Heather McClelland. “I think people are more aware of the important role that bees play on earth,” notes McClelland, who—with her husband, award-winning chef Frank McClelland—owns FRANK restaurant and marketcafe in Beverly, Massachusetts. “In our neighborhood, a few families have stopped spraying lawn pesticides because they learned that it is not good for the environment.” Photo: Trinette ReedStocksy Like Canty, the McClellands have a farm where they keep bees and grow vegetables and flowers for use in their restaurant. Local honey is a key element in the glaze for their classic Duck for Two, which includes raw honey infused with spruce and lavender. FRANK is also crafting drinks with local raw honey—the Beekeeper combines bourbon and honey, topped with a sprinkle of bee pollen. Heather says the couple started beekeeping to support their crops—which is precisely the reason that husband- and-wife team Taylor and Casie Hall put bees at the center of their locally sourced Apis Restaurant & Apiary, in Texas Hill Country outside Austin. “Once you start understanding how a colony of bees operates, how they thrive, and the structure of their roles and responsibilities, you see it’s very similar to the way a restaurant works,” Taylor says. “A honeybee is one of the most seasonal creatures there is. And we are a seasonal, farm-driven restaurant, trying to use the fruits of their pollinating labor.” The Halls harvest honey twice a year from hives set near the Pedernales River and on neighboring lands. BEE AMAZING Casie and Taylor Hall think of their bees as pets, since the breed they are raising is very gentle and won’t sting unless threatened. “It’s really cool to have your pets crawling around on you,” Taylor says. “A lot of people would be afraid of a bee on their skin, but we got very comfortable with them.” Especially in the summertime, when Hill Country is awash in wildflowers, watching them forage is a feast for the senses, he adds. “Pollen catches on their hind legs, so they come back with all different colors of neon pom-pom balls attached.” Apis restaurantapiary uses honey, bee pollen, and other byproducts in its culinary approach, as well as in its bar menu, to great acclaim. The cocktail Peaches and Bees, a beguiling take on a whiskey sour with house- made peach nectar, honey, and bourbon, was named the official cocktail of Austin in 2019. Back in Boston, Woods Hill’s take on a classic Bee’s Knees cocktail showcases lavender-infused honey, emphasizing the floral notes present in the sweet nectar. That’s not the only place you’ll find it—Canty says honey is “all over the menu” when it’s harvested every fall, in everything from salad dressings to glazes to ice cream. While honey brings something special to the table, Canty says what beekeeping brings is even better: mindfulness. “If you’ve had a bad morning, you shouldn’t go near the bees; they can sense it right away. If you’re expressing gratitude and love, and are completely calm and peaceful, you can watch them really close up.” LAVENDER BEES KNEES Courtesy of Woods Hill INGREDIENTS: 2 oz. gin (A botanical gin is best, but London dry will do.) 3⁄4oz. Lavender Honey Simple Syrup* 3⁄4oz. freshly-squeezed organic lemon juice DIRECTIONS: Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a glass. Garnish with a lemon rind and bee pollen. * Lavender Honey Simple Syrup: Make a tea by steeping 1 tablespoon fresh lavender per cup of water. Mix the warm tea with equal parts honey (organic raw is best). Chill once honey is dissolved. BEE POLLEN is a mixture of flower pollen, nectar, and digestive enzymes that sticks to foraging bees’ legs. Beekeepers place a screen across the door of the hive to collect the tiny granules, touted as a superfood for its dense protein, vitamins, and minerals. Available at most health food stores, bee pollen can be added to salad dressings, yogurt, and oatmeal for a slightly floral, earthy, sweet note.   View the SpringSummer Issue of  Elliman Magazine .