Bees on a terrace

If you hear a mysterious buzz around Gezi Park, do not wonder. It must be the bees of Ritz-Carlton wandering around in search of flowers. The hotel's new restaurant Atelier Real Food, seating only 50, might be small, but their ambition to serve real food is big.

Their chef Andre Piednoir has biked around the country to explore the food scene in Turkey, and is still ready to hop on his motorbike to reach for the real food. In search for good honey, the hotel management decided to go truly original and decided to serve honey that is unique and cannot be found elsewhere. They started their own bee colony on the rooftop. That was the only way to ensure their honey would be the one and only special honey in town.

Atelier Real Food's originality might be a new practice in Istanbul, but many hotels in big cities are taking steps to go for the thrill of making their own signature honey. Waldorf Astoria in New York was among the pioneers, setting up their hives, not long after the ban on urban beekeeping in NYC was lifted in 2010. Prior to the lift of the ban, though illegal, urban beekeeping was quite popular with many keen apiculturists already active. The legalization allowed only the non-hostile Apis Mellifera species, but with barely half of the bee colonies registered, who knows which bees are buzzing over Central Park. The colonies are multiplying in numbers, with a remarkable list of new apiculture-friendly establishments, such as the InterContinental Barclay Hotel, the Whitney Museum of Art and the Bank of America. The latter is now trying to keep Mason bees, which are the indigenous variety, native to the Americas.

There are, of course, also raising concerns that urban beekeeping might be dangerous for inhabitants of the city, with...