Fairmont Hotels and Resorts is introducing its first pollinator bee hotel. It is located at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York rather than in the UK but we hope the idea will migrate here. The bee hotel provides solitary bees with a place to rest their wings.
Fairmont Royal York’s rooftop garden already houses six honeybee hives. Established in 2008, the apiary produces over 800 pounds of rooftop honey each year which is used in the hotel’s kitchens and its local micro-brew - “Royal Stinger.”
The new pollinator bee hotel is constructed from nesting materials including wood, twigs and fallen branches and is designed to attract, support and protect native, lost and solitary bees by replicating their natural nesting sites. The Fairmont Royal York’s will feature a high-rise herbarium with 17 four-poster beds and surrounding planter pots filled with herbs such as rosemary, lavender, lemon thyme, chives, parsley, tarragon and basil. It will reflect the Toronto skyline and provide a sustainable nesting site for local pollinator bees.
Fairmont Royal York will see the first bee hotel and Fairmont plans to roll out the project at more hotels next year.
Details: www.fairmont.com