"New York City is getting seven hotels that won’t take reservations. They won’t put chocolates on the pillow at night — they won’t have pillows. Or beds, bathrooms or TripAdvisor ratings.
They are “bee hotels” intended to attract an at-risk population — smallish native bees that do not always find habitats in urban areas. The bee hotel installations will serve as stopovers between green spaces."
"“Most bee species cannot live in hives, so we need to give them other materials to build their homes,” she said. “In cities the limiting factor is where they can build their nests. Even if you provide food, they’re not necessarily going to thrive.”
Bees need the assistance that bee hotels can provide because there is concern about declines in bee populations. A three-year study of pollinators in New York State, conducted by Cornell University experts and released in 2022, found that up to 24 percent of pollinator bees are at risk. An additional 11 percent may have been wiped out, the study said.
Russell will lead a study of the bee hotels and “bee bunkers,” in-ground nesting places that will go in flower beds in plazas. “Part of the science of this project is seeing which bees colonize the hotels,” she said. “One of the things that makes this tricky is that urban bees are going to be different in behavior than bees in a rural or suburban setting. We don’t know which bees are going to be coming to the hotels or bunkers.”"
Source: James Barron, May 17, 2024
Comments