If you’re not already a big fan of bees, well, you certainly should be. They pollinate our food, filter our air and are essential for the upkeep of wild habitats. Their honey is both delicious and has medicinal properties. Plus, they’re pretty darn cute.
Now we think we’ve found the ideal Airbnb – or, we should say, Air ‘bee and bee’ – for anyone who’s really into the insects. To celebrate World Bee Day (May 20), a beekeeper in southern Italy has built a rental which doubles up as a bee farm. And it’s exactly as cool as it sounds.
Guests at the ‘Wonder Bee & Bee’ will get the chance to sleep in a hive surrounded by a colony of one million bees. And while you might think such unrelenting buzz might be loud or annoying, so-called ‘bee therapy’ has actually been proven to be pretty relaxing. And before you ask, no, the bees are not let loose in the room with you. A special box in the ceiling lets you watch the insects work away in their hive without having to worry about getting stung.
Built by local beekeeper Rocco Filomeno, the hive was financed by crowdfunding and cost $17,000 (£14,500). It’s near the village of Grottole in the southern Italian province of Basilicata, which is about an hour from Bari.
On a practical level, the rental contains one bedroom with two single beds, and there’s a bathroom and toilet in a separate building. Here are a few more pictures of the hive and Filomeno’s bee farm.
But the actual hive is only half of it. The stay also includes lessons from Filomeno on bees and how to live with them, as well as a breakfast that includes plenty of local honey. And just in case you thought it couldn’t get any dreamier, the hive has been built in the middle of Filomeno’s own olive garden.
All proceeds from the ‘Wonder Bee & Bee’ go to the bee conservation projects of a local NGO called Wonder Grottole. You can find out more on the rental’s Airbnb listing here.
Did you see you can stay in this English cabin, which is built on stilts so sheep can walk underneath?