Rooftop beehive is State Opera’s new buzzing attraction
Thousands of bees have taken up residence on the roof of Viennas State Opera as part of a new environmental project.Peoples Party (ÖVP) Environment Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich said when the “Vielfaltleben” (Diversity of Life) project was presented: “Bees are the builders of biodiversity. With this project, we want to raise awareness about these hard-working but also endangered insects.”Keepers said the 60,000-odd bees have already started collecting honey at the beehive placed on top of the venerable building created by architects Eduard van der Nüll and August Sicard von Sicardsburg from 1861.Fans of the bees can follow their activity on www.bienenfreunde.at/livecam where a live camera installation delivers 24-7 coverage of what is going on in the hive.