Sleep in this Air ‘bee and bee’ in southern Italy
Key Takeaways
- To celebrate World Bee Day, a beekeeper from southern Italy has built a buzzworthy hive where guests can sleep surrounded by over one million bees.
- Lying inside the structure, guests can gaze through a specially constructed box in the ceiling at a working hive and fall asleep to the gentle humming of bees.
- Built by volunteers from the local community in southern Italy, the honeycomb structure has been constructed in an idyllic olive garden setting.
To celebrate World Bee Day, Italian beekeeper Rocco Filomeno has listed the world’s first bee farm on Airbnb, where guests can sleep with a colony of over 1 million bees. The un-bee-lievable home has been constructed on Rocco’s olive farm just outside the idyllic village of Grottole in southern Italy. It is now available to book on Airbnb with all proceeds going to NGO Wonder Grottole’s bee conservation projects.
The oversized and homely hive is part of our ‘OMG!’ category, which is one of 56 Airbnb Categories making it easy to discover millions of unique homes guests never knew existed. Airbnb Categories organize homes based on their style, location, or proximity to a travel activity.
“This is the first place in the world where you can sleep immersed in the distinctive sound and aroma of the bees, experiencing ‘bee-therapy’ in the most authentic and natural way,” - Rocco Filomeno, beekeeper and Airbnb Host.
About the space
Rocco had the idea to construct the hive to promote awareness of and respect for bees. His dream was brought to life under the guidance of NGO Wonder Grottole and through the designs of self-build specialists, Davide Tagliabue. Financed through crowdfunding and built by 25 local volunteers, the structure cost a modest $17,000. It has been built in Rocco’s beautiful olive garden and comprises a single room surrounded by nine apiaries that contain a combined total of 1 million working bees.
About the stay
Guests will be welcomed by beekeeper Rocco where they will receive their first lesson on bees and how to live with them. Lying inside the structure, guests will be able gaze through a specially constructed box in the ceiling at a working hive of over 1 million bees and fall asleep to their gently humming sound (known for its soothing effect). Rocco is also offering guests a breakfast of ricotta, strawberries, homemade biscuits and, last but not least, local honey.
About Airbnb
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About Airbnb.org
Airbnb.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating temporary stays for people in times of crisis around the world. Airbnb.org operates independently and leverages Airbnb, Inc.'s technology, services, and other resources at no charge to carry out Airbnb.org's charitable purpose. The inspiration for Airbnb.org began in 2012 with a single host named Shell who opened up her home to people impacted by Hurricane Sandy. This sparked a movement and marked the beginning of a program that allows Hosts on Airbnb to provide stays for people in times of need. Since then, the program has evolved to focus on emergency response and to help provide stays to evacuees, relief workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and frontline workers fighting the spread of COVID-19. Since then, Hosts have offered to open up their homes and helped provide accommodations to 100,000 people in times of need. Airbnb.org is a separate and independent entity from Airbnb, Inc. Airbnb, Inc. does not charge service fees for Airbnb.org supported stays on its platform.
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