A new buzz sweeping the cultural landscape

Their home is on the roof of Royal Festival Hall - in a scale model of the hall itself, named Royal Festival Hive - where they are being treated to an exclusive programme of cultural events.

They had a poetry reading from the Southbank Centre's artist-in-residence Lemn Sissay to mark the first day of spring and over coming months will be visited by artists, musicians and writers.

But the 15,000-strong hive is more than an offbeat arts project - it is an experiment in city farming dreamed up by film-makers Andrew Hinton, an artist-in-residence at the Southbank last year, and Mikey Tomkins. Hinton said: "Mikey is very interested in urban agriculture and the idea of growing food in cities using spaces like rooftops."

At first glance, the area seems too much of a concrete wasteland to offer the bees much pollen but there is greenery nearby - the Coin Street community gardens, churchyards, trees across the river, St James's Park and even windowboxes.

John Chapple, chairman of the London Beekeepers' Association and caretaker of the hive, reckons London honey is among the best. "Just as London is a multitude of people, London honey is a multitude of flavours," he said.

The London Beekeepers' Association will be at the Real Food Festival, Earls Court, from Thursday to Sunday.