Beehives at Hotelschool The Hague, honey from our rooftops
Did you know there are several bee colonies with thousands of bees on the rooftops of both our campuses in Amsterdam and The Hague?
Since 2019, Hotelschool The Hague offers the ‘’Bee Ambassador’’ course, where students and employees take care of the school’s beehives. During this course, they learn everything about the fascinating behaviours of the bees and the link to the world of hospitality. Our students are incredibly enthusiastic about themes such as sustainability and biodiversity, and participating to this course is a great way to fulfill this interest and specifically learn more about the bee biology, hive management, honey extraction and understand our food system through the lens of bees.
The beekeeper course or ‘’Bee Ambassador’’ course is part of the extracurricular activities we offer at HTH. Each year, approximately ten to fifteen students graduate with a special certificate that honours their participation in this extracurricular programme.
When I started at HTH, I didn't expect that beekeeping would become my hobby. I'm quite a hyper person, but with bees, it's very important to work slowly, calmly and not rush things. I've learned from the bees that I can do that too.
Annelie van den Berg, Beekeeper and HTH student
I feel very fortunate to have been a part of the beekeeping club and to have learnt all about the bees and their impact on nature from a hands-on perspective. It was an eye opening and enriching experience that left me inspired and wanting to become a beekeeper.
Saul Salim, HTH student
About the bees and our beekeepers
Division of labor, complex and defense are some of the behaviours that honeybees have developed to exist harmonically and successfully in social colonies. The colony consists of three kinds of adult bees: workers, drones, and a queen, and each member has a specific task to perform based on their age. Campus The Hague has two beehives and Campus Amsterdam has two as well, and each beehive has 10.000 bees in winter and 50.000 in summer. Our beekeepers Joost de Vos and Bjorn Mielke take good care of the bees that produce very tasty honey, only available based on the production from our bees.
Joost de Vos, Executive Chef of Hotelschool The Hague, oversees everything related to food and beverages: "Taking inspiration from our school top bees, let's bee conscious, bee aware and bee sustainable in our actions, fostering a hospitable and bright future for everyone. Sustainability is a bit of a buzzword nowadays. But I try to make it real. Through the bees, students become more aware of nature. Bees are also a metaphor for our food system, and how everything is interconnected. "
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