All earnings from the sale of honey produced at a hospital’s premises will go to a cancer charity, it has been confirmed.
Brigitte Buberl – who is a spokeswoman for the Kepler University Clinic in Linz, Upper Austria – announced that the 65 kilogrammes of honey the hives had produced had been harvested.
Buberl underlined that it had been an employee’s idea to set up three honey-bee colonies at the clinic estate. She said that head chef Franz Furman had suggested that the installation of beehives on the hospital premises would be beneficial to everyone.
Furman said: “I’m truly happy that this project idea has become reality. The first range of our KUK Honey is on sale at the Kepler Clinic as of now.”
The chef pointed out that all proceeds would go to the Upper Austrian Childhood Cancer Fund (OÖ Kinder-Krebs-Hilfe).
Spokeswoman Buberl said: “Bees play a substantial role in our ecosystem. Several species of flowers would be threatened by extinction were it not for honey bees’ pollinating activity.”
She added: “Without bees, there would also be significant food production reductions.”
The hospital apiary is managed by Bernhard Zauner, a beekeeper from Goldwoerth, a municipality near Linz.
The Kepler University Clinic – which employs 6,700 nurses, doctors and administrational staff – is the second-biggest hospital in Austria. Only the AKH Vienna has higher capacities.