In southern Italy you can now spend the night surrounded by millions of bees
Many people are afraid of bees – although, unlike wasps, they are hardly aggressive and are even useful to humans, for example by producing honey.
But even bee friends could be put off by the following offer: In Italy you can now stay IN a bee farm. You can even watch a beehive in action through a specially constructed box on the ceiling.
A very special kind of Airbnb has opened in Italy: It is the first bee farm in the world where guests can stay overnight. The vacationers sleep here surrounded by a colony of over a million bees. The idea came from beekeeper Rocco Filomena. The new accommodation was built on his property, which is located near the village of Grottole in Matera in southern Italy. “It’s a unique place in the world to sleep surrounded by the unmistakable sounds and scents of bees,” Filomeno said in an Airbnb press release.
With the “beehive to stay overnight” Filomeno wants to raise awareness of the relevance of bees for nature. Support for the construction came from the NGO Wonder Grottole, a specialist who designed the special building, and 25 volunteers from the local community. The total cost of the building was $17,000. The money was raised through crowdfunding, according to Airbnb.
How is the bee Airbnb structured in Italy?
The Airbnb is located in the olive grove on the Filomeno property and consists of just one room. The small wooden house is surrounded by nine beehives, in which a total of one million bees work. The biggest feature, however, is inside the accommodation. A special box is attached to the wooden ceiling here, through which you can watch the goings-on in a beehive. You should also hear the bees if you sleep a few meters below.
It is important to beekeeper Rocco that the guests learn something about the life of bees. That is why there is “an introduction to the world of bees and life with them” for every visitor. The extraordinary accommodation can be booked now, the entire proceeds go to the bee protection projects of the NGO Wonder Grottole.
