Carolina Inn makes its own honey

A canvas tarp protected the elegant carpeting of the Carolina Inn’s North Parlor Thursday morning as employees painted wooden boxes that will house the inn’s starter bee colonies.

As part one of a plan to produce its own honey, the Carolina Inn decorated empty bee hive boxes to prepare for its sponsorship of two hives at Chapel Hill’s Just Bee Apiary.

The bees will be installed into the hives at the apiary on April 27, and the honey will be harvested by the end of the summer. The honey will be used at the Carolina Crossroads Restaurant and sold in the inn’s gift shop.

Imane Hedadji, supervisor of the inn’s gift shop, helped paint the boxes. She said she wanted to get involved with the project because of the business it will bring to the inn.

“Anything that benefits the Carolina Inn — I’m in,” Hedadji said. “It really is a miracle how bees make the honey and how they get the pollen and use it to make the honey. I really like honey and so I’ll definitely buy some.”

Michelle Voelpel, director of marketing and public relations at the Carolina Inn, said producing original honey has been on the inn’s to-do list. She said the sponsorship with Just Bee aligned with the inn’s desire to show support for local businesses and farmers.

“It’s not like comparing apples to apples,” Voelpel said. “Generic brand honey doesn’t even compare to the quality, flavor and health benefits that organically and locally produced honey has.”

Voelpel said she expects the introduction of the honey to bring something new and exciting to the restaurant, while also allowing it to sell a product unique to Chapel Hill.

“Guests will be able to take a little bit of Chapel Hill with them,” said Marty Hanks, owner of Just Bee Apiary.

Hanks said the bees only travel a few miles away from their hive to gather local nectar and pollen.

He said every community has distinct flora and that the placement of the hives directly influences the flavor of the honey produced.

“Every community has a different story to tell — a different flavor,” Hanks said. “Every year different flowers are in bloom, and so the honey produced that season represent the community at that particular time.”

Hanks said the apiary’s sponsorship with the Carolina Inn will help keep the business afloat, while also supporting the apiary as bee activists.

“It’s a double sword,” Hanks said. “They’re getting a true local product — they can walk right up and touch the hives. They’re also giving and supporting a local business and its environmental activism.”

According to data from the Natural Resources Defense Council, bees pollinate more than $15 billion in U.S. crops each year.

“If we can make the world a better place for bees, then by default we are making it better for us,” Hank said.

Voelpel said the Carolina Inn wants to be a part of the solution in sustaining the bee population, rather than a part of the problem.

“It’s not just about making honey for us,” Voelpel said. “This is an opportunity for us to tell the story of why we need bees. Without bees, there’s no food, and so we thank the bees for the cuisine we are able to produce.”

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