From Burts Bees to honey lattes to actual honeybees on the roof, there’s a lot of buzz surrounding Hillcrest Mall right now. Recently, two hives were installed on the mall rooftop by Alvéole – The Urban Beekeeping Company – as part of their #HelloHoney initiative. And, I was one of a handful of bloggers that got to check out the first check-in of the honeybees at Hillcrest Mall. 

Honeybees at Hillcrest Mall: What’s all the Buzz About?

Hillcrest’s partnership with Alvéole is part of their initiative to be a bee-friendly environment. The bees will live in their hives up on the mall rooftop and fly up to 5km in surrounding areas to pollinate flowers in the Hillcrest community. The hives started off with approximately 10,000 honeybees and by the end of the season there could be as many as 80,000! But you know what that means? A whole lot of honey!

This September, Hillcrest is creating their own branded honey – which will be done artisanaly at Alvéole’s honey house. I can vouch for it being delicious. We got to taste a little bit straight from the hive and wow, was it fresh! We also got to hold the bees. It was intimidating at first, but as we learned from our knowledgable Alvéole beekeeper, the honeybees at Hillcrest Mall are pretty docile.

Today I got to go check out a honeybee hive on the rooftop of @shop_hillcrest and then hold a hell of a lot of bees! Too cool 🐝 I mean, if those were spiders this would be a completely different story lol thank you @mattestories! Stay tuned #ontheblog for more 🐝😻 #hellohoney

A post shared by MELINA MORRY (@ladylikeleopard) on Jun 15, 2017 at 3:56pm PDT

“It is a Hillcrest value to respect our environment and to give back to the community,” says Lisa Resnic, Marketing Director for Hillcrest Mall. “Our beekeeping initiative affords us an opportunity to share this value.”

As well as actual honeybees at Hillcrest Mall, there are also plenty of honey-based products available. Sometimes I like to DIY my own honey lip scrubs, but other times it’s easier just to head to Sephora and get the full beauty treatment. 

Honeybee Products at Hillcrest Mall

1. When you want to smell sweet:

Marc Jacobs Fragrances – Honey, $96

2. If you’re in need of skin hydration:

Farmacy – Honey Potion Renewing Antioxidant Hydration Mask with Echinacea GreenEnvy™, $75

3. When your body needs all-over moisture:

The Body Shop – Honeymania™ Body Butter, $21

Thanks for having me Hillcrest Mall and Matte PR! It was the bees knees.