Hotels are continuing to moonlight in the urban beekeeping business in an effort to bring guests fresh honey and help bee colonies populate.
Among the guests at the Carmel Valley Ranch resort in California are about 70,000 bees that call the hotel home, the Los Angeles Times reports. Hotel guests can enjoy the honey extracted from four nearby bee colonies and some can even take a guided "beekeeping experience" tour, according to Travel Golf.
But West Coast hotels aren't the only hospitality locales taking on the urban beekeeping fad.
The InterContinental Boston set up the city's first hotel hives in 2010, and in August 2011 workers were able to harvest more than 120 pounds of honey, Boston Innovation reports.
The trend extends beyond the United States and into Canada, Australia and parts of Europe. In fact, Paris is among the top urban beekeeping cities of the world, boasting about 400 urban hives, the Syndey Morning Herald points out.
Bee colonies sit atop Paris' Westin hotel on the Rue de Rivoli, where workers harvest up to 110 pounds of honey per year.
Although the urban beekeeping fad has been around for a while, it might surprise some to learn that the Obamas even have their own hive at the White House, the Los Angeles Times points out. Honey from the hive has been used in the White House Honey Ale, beer brewed at the president's residence.