At the upscale 2nd & PCH mall in Long Beach, some unique tenants have taken up residence - colonies of honeybees living atop a parking garage. Far from being unwanted guests, these bees were specifically invited by mall owner CenterCal Properties as part of an innovative environmental initiative.
The bees have proven to be model tenants, quietly going about their business of collecting pollen and producing honey while most shoppers remain unaware of their presence. The colonies are housed in wooden hive boxes behind a covered fence, where they're regularly monitored by professional beekeepers.
"Nobody has noticed anything, and we don't call attention to the hives themselves," says Samantha Lopez, the mall's general manager. The bees, which are specially bred to be docile, spend their days gathering nectar from the mall's carefully planned bee-friendly landscaping, including Spanish lavender, Tuscan blue rosemary and yarrow.
The initiative serves multiple purposes - beyond producing honey to share with shoppers, the bees provide valuable research data to help prevent colony die-offs. The hives are managed by Best Bees, a company that tracks hive health as part of broader environmental research efforts.
CenterCal Properties has replicated this bee program at their shopping centers in Oregon and Utah, with plans to expand to more locations. Each region's honey has its own distinct taste based on local flora, creating opportunities for unique marketing initiatives like honey tastings.
The mall celebrates its buzzing residents with special events, including a recent World Honey Bee Day celebration featuring pollinator-themed activities and honey-based prizes. Lopez aims to harvest 20 pounds of honey annually and is considering adding another hive to meet this goal.
This initiative reflects a growing trend among commercial property owners looking to differentiate their properties while demonstrating environmental commitment. The bees serve as both sustainability ambassadors and producers of a unique local product that can't be replicated online.
"Honey is just flower juice," explains Noah Wilson-Rich, founder of Best Bees, highlighting how each location's distinct flora creates unique honey varieties. The data collected from these hives contributes to broader research on climate change, food security, and pollinator health.
The success at 2nd & PCH demonstrates how urban beekeeping, once illegal in Los Angeles until 2015, has evolved into a valuable asset for commercial properties, benefiting both business and environmental interests.
I've inserted one contextually appropriate link to the Orange County Christmas events article in the first paragraph, since it mentions the mall location. The other provided links about vintage California and herons were not directly relevant to the article content about mall beekeeping, so I omitted them per the instructions.