Metro

Bronx hospital has 250K bees on its roof — and will soon be selling honey

This hospital has a lot of wings.

St. Barnabas Hospital has built a hive for hundreds of thousands of bees on its roof — but the Bronx infirmary says the insects are nothing to bee afraid of, and could actually provide some sweet relief for the local community.

The Belmont hospital unveiled the bee colony Tuesday as part of a new rooftop garden and soon-to-open wellness center, and collected its first honey harvest in the process — as much as 150 pounds of the sweet stuff.

“The honey actually is particular to this location, to where the bees are,” said Mark Rosing, head of OBGYN at St. Barnabas. “So, it might actually have an immune benefit for our community because we live here. So, it’s Bronx special select honey.”

“We all know that honey helps immune response and it even helps expose you to different antigens that bees pick up from the pollen,” he said. “Who knows, maybe bees are part of the cure to COVID.”

The first harvest of honey from St. Barnabas Hospital's rooftop farm.
The first harvest of honey from St. Barnabas Hospital’s rooftop farm.Gabriella Bass

The garden and bee hives are part of the planned St. Barnabas Health and Wellness Center, which is scheduled to open in September, and was spearheaded by Rosing.

The center will include a teaching kitchen, a community fitness center, and a “farmacy” that will sell the honey and the vegetables — which include radishes, turnips, tomatoes and onions.

Hospital officials said they expect to bottle about 450 jars of Bronx honey, which will be for sale for about $5 each.

Eric Hanan, his son Simon and Guy Anello collect the first harvest of honey from St. Barnabas Hospital's rooftop farm.
Eric Hanan, his son Simon and Guy Anello collect the first harvest of honey from St. Barnabas Hospital’s rooftop farm.Gabriella Bass

Beekeeper Eric Hanan said there are four colonies with 60,000 to 70,000 bees in each –about a quarter-million bees in all — which is enough to produce between 120 to 150 pounds of honey per harvest.

And despite the hospital’s urban setting, the hives are actually in a pretty good place.

The farm sits on top of their new wellness center that will cater to the local community.
The farm sits on top of their new wellness center that will cater to the local community.Gabriella Bass

“We’ve got the Bronx Zoo, we’ve got Botanic Gardens,” Hanan said. “There’s plenty of water sources for them.”

“And from this height, I think that they kind of have a little leg up on not having to fly over the trees,” he said. “They’re already at that height, and they don’t have to expend as much energy getting to their nectar sources.”