Approximately a million bees fly in the sky above Warsaw. They live in hives spread across about a dozen locations in the city, on roofs of both commercial and public buildings.

To mark the Grand Bee Day (8 August), global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield has prepared a report Hello, I’m a bee. I live on the roof, which sheds some light on hives located on commercial and public utility buildings in Warsaw. Data for this publication was provided, among others, by Capital Park Group, Immofinanz and Skanska.

These extremely hard-working insects have already settled in in our city for good and by pollinating entomophilous plants they care about the urban flora better than perhaps gardeners can. As well as pollinating, honey bees produce honey (improves heart and liver functions, exhibits detoxifying properties, and acts as a natural antibiotic in colds by alleviating fever and boosting immunity), bee pollen (a powerhouse of valuable amino acids, enzymes, vitamins including a B complex, vitamins C, D and K, and acetylcholine), beeswax (used for treating upper respiratory tract infections, skin and heart diseases, etc.), propolis or bee glue (exhibits bactericidal, fungicidal, disinfectant and immunostimulating properties), and royal jelly (has bacteriostatic, immunomodulating and regenerative properties) – all these products have proven health benefits.

“The Warsaw market offers more than 5,410,000 sq m of modern office space. (…) Amid the growing competition in recent years, developers have begun to focus increasingly on sustainable green solutions to improve the working environment of office tenants,” said report author Jan Szulborski, Consultant, Consulting and Research, Cushman & Wakefield.

“The Polish consumer behaviour has evolved for at least the last ten years with a growing desire to go back to the roots and live closer to nature. This trend has substantially developed and intensified over these years. Nearly each larger Polish city now has some bee initiatives. (…) Cities are very good places for bees: no pesticides, higher temperature and availability of green areas with a diverse flora. Insects repay by contributing to the growth of greenery. No wonder, bees are so welcome in cities,” added anthropologist Agnieszka Warzybok, decode, a PTBRiO expert.

“It is not easy to incorporate bees into our lives. The most difficult task is to break stereotypes about these charming insects. The scare of being stung is the strongest fear. (…) Bees live in complete symbiosis with buildings, tenants and services. By talking about bees around buildings people are slowly becoming more aware of bees and our co-existence,” said Grzegorz Rybicki, Property Manager, Asset Services EMEA, Cushman & Wakefield.

“Honey from apiaries is healthy and nutritious, and even appears superior to honeys from rural areas in some respects, which is confirmed by unbiased research by the Apiculture Division of the Research Institute of Horticulture in PuÅ‚awy,” said Katarzyna Czubak, Marketing & PR Manager, Grupa Capital Park, Capital Park Group.

The report Hello, I’m a bee. I live on the roof is a collection of expert opinions collated for this publication of global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.