Info
Rome, Bees and Honey
My urban apiary is located in a large garden in Garbatella. Unfortunately, Apis mellifera is heavily attacked (July til November) by the hornet Vespa orientalis. In August 2024 I lost all of my bee colonies, this is why I installed a second apiary fuori Roma, in the Sub-Apeninne hills. The future is uncertain.
I work as a landscape gardener, horticulturalist, beekeeper and as excursion guide. I love nature. And I am fascinated by the Very New and the Very Old and by discovering the many roads in between.
In 2007 I founded the project Stadtbienenhonig, filling my first honey in pots, I needed a good name, so I invented the word "Stadtbienen". It was not used before. I also chose to put the beehives on unused roofs (not in gardens) in the center of Berlin, in reference to the conquest of inner-city space in Berlin in the 1990s, with the extension of letting bees fly in public spaces. It was an experiment, because back then the old beekeepers did not tell their neighbors that they had bees in their garden. Bees were flying in secret space and nobody knew about it, except the people who bought honey.
My second roof was located at the Aquacarre close to Moritzplatz in Kreuzberg. Many friends came to visit and experience the activity. We were so close to the sky, watching the bees’ flight and talking about the role of bees and the connection between their lives and ours.
At the end of 2020 I moved to Rome. For three years I worked in the park of the German Academy Rome Villa Massimo. Among keeping bees, many young trees were planted, which will serve as a source of nectar for all bees in the neighborhood in the near future.
I love honey and I love spending time with bees. Some beefamilies live forever, others only for a short time. Less intervention in what-is-happening requires more attention. This means that the situation becomes more complex and requires a higher level of understanding. Bees are always artistically active - in producing honey, as well as in building honeycombs and of course in finding survival strategies. With my bees, we follow each other.
Studying the best moments of harvesting honey
Honey is a natural product. It is a carrier substance, exclusively produced by honeybees. The bees search for food within a radius of max. 3 km. In doing so, they collect water, nectar and pollen and honeydew (from the outside). They also produce enzymes (from the inside). The production of honey is a complex process happening in the darkness of the hive. It is a combination of external circumstances such as weather and beekeeping activities and naturally available plant diversity and internal circumstances like the character of the beehive, individual ability and availability of enzymes. Every detail leaves a trace in the honey. Honey retains that memory. I have carried out many studies with my bees in Berlin and I continue these studies. Each honey tells its own story.
The Mediterranean flora and the subtropical climate in Rome are opposite conditions to Northern Europe. I am still in the experimental phase. The new rhythm of the beehives and the incredibly diverse bee flora for honey are a great source of inspiration that slowly turns into experience -knowledge.
For example: there is a second spring that can turn into early summer, like in October 2022. Is this a sign of change or just a deviation? I managed to harvest honey at the beginning of November. It was more than surprising: the color, the taste and above all the time of year, everything was exceptional. Eriobotrya japonica turned out to be the main source of nectar. This is an introduced tree species originally from Asia, which reproduces easily and blooms in October. The white flowers smell like marzipan, and so does the honey...
Honey, when it ripens in white honeycombs, has an inner, clear color. It might originate from transformed sunlight? White honeycomb is permeable. After ripening, the honey retains its glooming. When honey flows into the jar, a band forms. Honey does not run like water. Honey is folding.
Some aspects of honey study
Summer honey includes: Robinia, Ailanthus, Ligustrum, Tilia and honeydew.
Spring honey contains winter-flowering and early-flowering plants: almond, peach and citrus fruits, rosemary, echium, lavandula, viola - amber-colored.
Fuori Roma: Castanea sativa is dominant in the summer, followed by more honeydew from the forests in the late summer
Honey is unique, but never stands alone. It is not (a) singular. It is the result of a collective effort. A whole world is reflected in it. The many factors that influence the composition and quality, such as weather, nectar and pollen supply, health and ability of the bee colony, its housing, the location, the care... Everything has an influence, everything leaves a trace.
Honey Harvest Rome, first impressions
In Rome, there is a relatively high amount of honeydew, besides nectar of flowers. Many of the streettrees do not produce nectar (Platanus); there are also a lot of garden shrubs whose flowers are sterile. Then there are a lot of Conifers.
My honey is characterized by a lower water content (between 14.5% and 17% instead of 18% to 20%). In this state, fresh honey is rather viscous, while ripe honey starts crystallizing in (late) autumn - except the chestnut honey, that stays liquid. I stir the honey very little to maintain the internal tension. When stirring, I therefore give it a little momentum. Then it can happen that the honey forms honey blossoms in winter. This is forgivable. The taste moves from floral to woody to minty to malty.
The first honey is taken in May, or as early as the end of April. In Rome there are many winter- and early spring - flowering plants, like all the Citrus trees, Almond, Wisteria is a magnet for bees. Rosemary hanging over the walls, fragrant violets in the meadows, fruit trees and perhaps the first lavender - that is the collection for spring. Reddish shimmer.
In June the Ailanthus is already blooming, the roses in the gardens, Pomegranate, Thyme and Salvia,... floral notes, the occasional linden tree, minty notes. There is already honeydew, which makes it spicy.
In July it becomes miele millefiori, this is the moment most beekeepers harvest. In the city there is a lot of (boring) Ligustrum, in the countryside the sources get darker because of the chestnut trees (very bitter) and the honeydews of oak (?) and chestnut (?).
In August it becomes more woody, more honeydew, nothing in bloom for a while. more malty, more herbal.
Last year there was a nectar flow in September: ivy. This was very particular and not easy to handle.
Usually I conduct micro-harvests several times during the seasons, always with a few frames. I pay attention to ripe honey. My honey is centrifuged by hand and carefully treated in every step. Good honey is healthy and stimulates our mind.
In my beekeeping practice I cultivate a game with many unknowns and so the taste of honey is always a surprise!
Honey Analysis, Rome
Last year's harvest of early summer honey of the garden in Garbatella turned out to be the most loved by everyone who tasted my samples of 2025. The harvest was one out of 15 different ones that marked the year of 2025 between 3.5. and 30.9.
The 9.6.25 honey was analyzed through identifying the amounts of pollen: 82 % Ailanthus altissima, 8 % Rubus and 2 % Rhamnus and then small percentage of Echium, Punica, Eucalyptus, Trifolium...
The taste was flowery and soft, fresh and somehow very happy. Cristallization started at the beginning of the next year. Most of the honey was consumed within the first months after the harvest.
Before knowing, it's a monofloral Ailtantus we imagined peach blossom, roses, jasmine and many more. :)
About Me
I love nature and I am intrigued by human-non-human relationships that leave manipulation, domination and exploitation on the side and concentrate on the collective mind, something that brings us together and closer to the source of life.
While keeping bees I learn more about this. I live in urban areas, but I am drawn towards the rural areas, especially to mountain areas. Since I moved to Rome, I do a lot of hiking and explore the solitude of the Central Apennines.
My focus in beekeeping has shifted: I am less concerned with the social fabric of urban beekeeping (like in Berlin) and more focused on the organism of bees: the hive knowledge, the constant learning. I devote myself to beeswax. I collect it, clean it and cast candles from it. The candles are essentially an archive of my beekeeping activities.
As far as honey is concerned, it is highly appreciated and there is always too little of it. It remains the most precious thing I deal with in this world.