New accommodations available: Mason bees in the USA can now fly to ten luxurious new lodgings to rest their wings. The bee hotels were developed by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in collaboration with Pollinator Partnership, an organization dedicated to protecting pollinators and their habitats. Bee hotels serve as nesting places and spaces for reproduction for valuable insects. The steady loss of habitat is considered the main reason for the decline of wild bee populations. Worldwide, one-third of food production is dependent on bees and other pollinators.
“For a long time, Fairmont has been a leader in the hotel industry when it comes to ensuring the survival of honeybees,” says Jane Mackie, Vice President of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. “Expanding our commitment now to wild mason bees and the protection of their habitats is the logical continuation of our bee conservation program. Wild bees are extremely effective pollinators, and we rely on their help for many of our foodstuffs. We hope that these ten bee hotels are just the beginning of many more that will be built by companies and individuals throughout the country.”
For more than ten years, Fairmont has been committed to protecting and preserving bees with its “Bee Sustainable” initiative. To this end, the company has already built 40 bee houses on its properties worldwide. The Fairmont bee hotels in the USA were created in collaboration with Pollinator Partnership, the largest non-profit organization dedicated solely to the protection and preservation of pollinators and their ecosystems. In addition to bees, butterflies, birds, bats, beetles, and small mammals are also included.
The design of the bee hotels is inspired by the local environment and also relies on the reuse of various materials. The engineers put their creativity into the conception – from the wine barrel bee hotel at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa to a miniature version of the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston, to the Washington Monument replica bee hotel at the Fairmont Washington. The bee hotel at The Plaza New York is also inspired by the hotel legend itself and was developed in collaboration with the Central Park Conservancy and River of Flowers, the international partner of “Bee Sustainable.”
New Fairmont bee houses can be found at The Plaza in New York, Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston, Fairmont Washington D.C., Fairmont Dallas, Fairmont San Francisco, Fairmont Olympic in Seattle, Fairmont San Jose, Fairmont Newport Beach, Claremont Hotel & Spa in Berkeley, California, and Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa.
To further raise awareness of the importance of bees for human nutrition, the participating Fairmont Hotels & Resorts chefs have developed special menu items with ingredients that rely on bees for pollination. “It is absolutely necessary that we find ways to protect bee colonies and create nesting places for them,” says Chef Todd English, founder of the Todd English Food Hall at The Plaza New York. “Some of my favorite ingredients like tomatoes and eggplants wouldn’t exist without bees.”
Throughout the summer, Fairmont offers special Bee Sustainable packages to its guests at participating properties – with a ten percent discount on the room and a $50 restaurant voucher. In addition, ten dollars from each stay will go to Pollinator Partnership for bee research and programs. Currently, research and development for bee hotels in Dubai and Singapore are being conducted in partnership with River of Flowers, and further projects are planned.