City Honey
The project “Kölner Stadthonig” focuses on the well-being of honeybees. Although, unlike many wild bee species, they are not immediately threatened with extinction, they would not survive infestation by the Varroa mite without the care of beekeepers.
Together with befriended hobby beekeepers, the project was founded in 2014 by Armin Behrens. “Kölner Stadthonig” stands for the idea of offering honey lovers honey from their immediate neighborhood .
Honeybees collect pollen and nectar within a radius of three kilometers. In the map section, the flight circle of the foragers of the respective bee colonies is marked.
The range of blossoms, especially in urban vegetation, is always colorful and diverse. The same goes for the flavor varieties of our blossom honeys. We offer exclusively regional honey from our own organic beekeeping in Cologne.
The bees of these beekeepers produce Kölner Stadthonig:
Armin Behrens
Urbach, a district of Cologne-Porz, is within walking distance of the Rhine and offers blooming gardens at the neighboring single-family homes and an old stock of trees. From the early-blooming fruit trees to the acacias and lindens to the sweet chestnut, my bees find nectar that always makes for a well-balanced sweet/spicy honey.
In Klettenberg is one of the largest allotment garden sites in Cologne. Here the bees find a wide variety of food and ensure the pollination of the useful and ornamental plants lovingly cultivated by the hobby gardeners. Blackberries and lindens grow on the edge of the site.
In the district of Deutz two colonies have found accommodation in the garden of friends. They are surrounded by acacias and lindens along the neighborhood streets.
Directly in the city center, in the Old Town–South on Severinsstraße, bees from four colonies forage on the trees and flowers of the southern part of the city to produce a very spicy honey. It is astonishing how much nectar the bees find in the densely built-up southern city.
In Poll my bee colonies live close to the Poller Wiesen meadows between extensive blackberry hedges. This gives the honey a slightly spicy note.
Sebastian Kühn
Runs a hotel in the city center near the Severinsbrücke bridge, directly on the Rhine. From the hotel roof with its excellent view, his bees fly to the green areas along the riverbank as far as the Rheinpark. Sebastian also keeps additional bee colonies in Porz and Libur.
Stefan Rudig
The bee forage in Lövenich and Müngersdorf in spring is characterized by flowers and many fruit trees. This makes the honey creamy and mild. I call it KÖLNERSTARTER. In late summer, the mild honey is characterized by linden trees and summer flowers and is then called TAUSENDBLÜTEN (thousand blossoms).
Sven Kadlubek
In Zündorf I keep 10 bee colonies in my garden. By harvesting honey several times, based on the flowering times of the plants, I offer in the jar of the German Beekeepers' Association: spring blossom with acacia, spring blossom with chestnut, blossom honey with rose, summer blossom with linden, summer blossom with tree of heaven.
We are all members here, because in this association it’s buzzing!
