Hotels may be shut for regular human visitors, but there's good news for the bees: three new 'bee hotels' have opened in Budapest as a part of the FŐKERT project.
Bees are frequently in the headlines for shrinking natural habitats, especially in cities. Man-made housing structures strive to provide living spaces for these valuable insects, and several already exist in Budapest. Suitable conditions are carefully recreated to ensure the pollinators have a place to lay eggs and raise their offspring, thus preserving the ecological diversity of the city.
Insect hotels are made of plants and stones, with tiny gaps, cracks and cavities for the little guys to hide and crawl in. Don’t confuse them for huge bee colonies – those are specifically called ‘hives’ – these hotels are home to insects living solitarily, or in small groups.
So far, we can find these special insect hotels on the Nehru embankment, Hajógyári Island, at Tabán, at Vérmező and János Pál pápa tér, and now also in Függetlenségi park, Feneketlen-tó park and on Margaret Island. Plans are in the works to add more at Apor Vilmos tér and the gardens of the National Museum.
More information can be found in the video released by FŐKERT (in Hungarian).
