Mike Wolanin | The Republic A view of Hotel Indigo in Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, March 25, 2020.
Some very hard workers are about to check in to a new home on the roof of Hotel Indigo downtown, as the facility enters the rooftop beekeeping movement.
This weekend, the hotel will install the first two urban beehives in the 85-room hotel in downtown Columbus, general manager Kevin Green said.
Working in collaboration with local beekeeper Jonathan Vogt, the hotel will use the honey in its restaurant and bottle it for sale in the gift shop, Green said.
While new for downtown Columbus, the Fairmont Hotels & Resorts hotel has been focused on bees and honey since 2008.
A Fairmont spokesman said they saw an opportunity to help combat Colony Collapse Disorder by placing honeybee hives on hot rooftop gardens and other onsite locations.
The disorder occurs when the majority of worker bees in a honey bee colony disappear, leaving only a queen, stored food and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees.
In recent years, many hotels, especially those within high-rise buildings, are getting into the rooftop beekeeping movement, Green said. One reason is its inclusion in the local food movement.
“Almost all of us want to be able to offer as much local product as possible,” Green said. “It really doesn’t get much more local than coming from your rooftop.”
Its estimated that 28% of bumble bee species on the continent are considered threatened, and more than 40% of invertebrate pollinator species – particularly bees and butterflies – may face extinction in the coming decades, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Cornell University released a study indicating the extinction of honeybees will cause an economic crisis with the decline of produce such as fruits and vegetables.
“The reduction of pollinators is very scary when you think about what pollinators really do on a larger scale,” Green said. “That’s our food supply.“
Green says the installation of the urban beehives at hotels won’t solve the problem, but they are effective in helping to keep the trend of creating pollinators going.
