We’ve been on holiday in Tasmania for the last two weeks, and this has given us a chance to catch up on our light reading, including recent editions of cooking magazines provided in the various hotels.

Bees, it seems, are the new black, at least amongst the trendy restaurants and avant-garde chefs.

This is what Gourmet Traveller had to say:

Ladro’s Fitzroy and Prahran restaurants were amongst the first in Melbourne to trial hives almost 18 months ago, put there by Melbourne City Rooftop Honey, a company that has since brought trouble-free bee keeping and specialised honey to more than 15 city restaurants. “I loved the idea of having bees from the start,” says Ladro co-owner Ingrid Langtry. “Not just because of the idea of being able to serve honey 10 minutes after it’s been collected from the roof but because it helps to sustain the bee population and, I guess, the security of our pollinated food.”

Rooftop Honey also gets a write-up in Feast magazine, while Malfroy’s Honey is featured as a key ingredient in a sumptuous rolled pork belly recipe.

It seems that everyone is getting into the act, with hives finding homes in unlikely locations throughout the urban environment. Who knows how many urban hives there are now, hidden away from casual observation!

Hopefully we’ll have Lewisham Honey to add to the mix by the end of summer. 🙂