Mysterious beehives in park overlooking Bosphorus in Istanbul raise questions

ISTANBUL

Several beehives spotted in a park between Istanbul’s Dolmabahçe and Gümüşsuyu districts have raised questions on how they were placed there. 

A total of 15 beehives on five trees were spotted at the Dec. 10 Marytrs’ Park, formerly known as the Freeloaders Hill, and no official has any information on the issue, daily Habertürk reported on April 7.

According to the daily, all the beehives are chained to trees in the park in central Istanbul, which is visited by dozens of people on a daily basis. Experts have said that the bees in the park won’t pose a negative effect on the environment. 

Honey has been extracted for some 16 years from the beehives, which park officials said they belonged to two people from the Black Sea province of Rize. 

The officials said the honeycombs can be spotted in different areas of the park, adding that it is a proof that honey is being produced in the beehives. 

The unidentified owners of the beehives visit the park every 15 days to check on them and extract honey in certain periods. According to the park officials, the beehives have been in the park for many years and the only information regarding the owners is that they are assumed to be from Rize. 

When asked about the hives, the head of the Ömer Avni neighborhood said he doesn’t know anything about the issue. 

Many questions have been raised regarding the beekeeping activity in the park, such as how they managed to continue, how many years they had been there and whether they had permission to do so. 

Speaking about the hives, officials from the Istanbul Municipality’s Park and Gardens Directorate said they have no information on the issue, adding that no official permission was given to carry out such an activity in a park open to the public. 

The officials told the daily that the park will be reorganized in the new future and all existing negative factors will be removed. 

Also speaking to daily Habertürk, Hasan Efe from the Apiculture Research Institute said beekeeping in the city center could harm the insects’ physiology. 

“Due to the gas coming out of vehicles and environmental conditions, the honey of the bees can contain heavy metals and the bees could become weak,” he said.