New hotels are coming to New York City soon, but these ones are for the bees!
Pollinator Port Project is bridging the gaps between green spaces and promoting native bee populations by installing Bee Bunkers and Bee Hotels on select public plazas and open streets around NYC.
The bee hotels and bunkers, along with vegetation to provide native bees and other pollinators with nutrition, are in an effort to save at-risk native bees and provide them with a safe place to stay.
Moreover, the project will give researchers from Rutgers University the chance to study the bees. By marking them with safe, biodegradable colored spots they’ll be able to learn more about the population size and how they travel across the city.
The bunkers and hotels look similar to birdhouses and are filled with natural materials such as reeds and bamboo, providing bees a place to nest and rest. As female bees deposit their eggs in the summer, they’ll be given a protected space to build their nests.
A 2022 report from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation found that anywhere from 38% to 60% of New York’s native pollinators population were declining and at risk. Without these pollinators, however, biodiversity in the ecosystems would not be properly maintained.
Burrowing bees have been observed to stay close to their habitat and forage for food within three to four blocks of where they live. But just because you’ll be seeing more of them doesn’t mean you need to worry–these types of bees rarely sting humans.
Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi stated:
The buzz is building: year after year, New York is becoming a better, friendlier city for native plants and animals– and in the process helping create a better, more sustainable future. Bees are our friends, a key to literally sustaining life on this planet. The least we can do is to make our city welcoming to them, an urban environment full of color and biodiversity.
The habitats will be installed in planted areas at the following locations:
- Fordham Plaza
- Parkside Plaza
- Cooper Square Plaza
- Quisqueya Plaza (Dyckman Plaza)
- Water Street (Staten Island)
- Gates Avenue
- 34th Avenue