Sweet Success

As someone who grew up in a house next door to 6 buzzing hives, I�ve always had an interest in bees.

When we were small, it was all about the delicious honey and trying to avoid standing on the bees that had decided to take a break on the garden lawn. Now, well, it�s still about delicious honey, but I�ve also come to appreciate just how unique and interesting the whole concept of bee-keeping is.

Honey�s great because it�s so easy to be local. And I mean really local, because bees will go far and wide to hunt nectar. This summer, Travelocity identified The Fairmont Royal York in Toronto as one of its top-5 green hotels. The 10,000 bees on its roof, which produce honey for its restaurant, are key to its success and branding as a Honey Moon Suite.

Honey is linked with sustainability � in our minds and in reality. People love honey because it's natural. Its production relies on, and is friendly to, the environment. It can also be a social solution in areas where few sustainable farming options exist. From London to Afghanistan, from NYC to Malawi, bee-keeping is a trend that�s good for the environment and good for communities.

There�s a community in Sweden that�s so convinced by honey as the symbol of sustainability that they�ve made a local currency out of it: the Djing in Lund isn�t backed up with gold, but jars of the golden stuff. Perhaps honey money isn�t the solution for the Euro crisis. But let�s hope bees keep their growing role in our ideas about sustainable success.