The St. Ermin’s Hotel in London ow offers a bijou new bee & b in the heart of London for visiting pollinators.
Situated on the wall of the Hotel’s third floor wildflower terrace*, which is already home to a thriving resident colony of 300,000 Buckfast honey bees, London’s first bee hotel is formed of stylish hexagon suites in the hotel’s purple livery.
Designed and created by the St Ermin’s expert beekeeper, Camilla Goddard, the new bee hotel provides a welcome home for a wide variety of visiting bee species. Peaceful bamboo nesting areas and condominiums (modern block or traditional log style) are for solitary bees such as the leaf cutter bee, whilst the bijou boxes are for social bees such as the tree bumble bee.
The bee hotel also provides a variety of special areas for other helpful insects. The discerning lacewing will be enchanted by the rolled cardboard swirls, and all types of ladybirds, earwigs, woodlice and spiders will find peaceful resting places amongst the crevice stacks.
“Bees are suffering massive decline and have a lot of challenges at the moment, including reduced natural forage, such as wild flower meadows”, says Camilla Goddard.
“I really want to encourage more people to help by creating more forage for bees – don’t forget trees like apples, chestnuts and pears. In London bees visit lots of privet flowers, so please don’t prune off the flower heads”, she requested on behalf of the nation’s bees.
Camilla is offering a series of small group taster bee keeping workshops at the St. Ermin’s Hotel in September. Lasting 2.5 hours, the workshop outlines the complexities of bee society and beehaviour; highlights the close relationship between bees and flowers, giving guidance on what to plant, when; how best to site hives in gardens or allotments; managing hives and collecting raw honey. St. Ermin’s Hotel bee keeping workshops cost £25 pp and finish with a complimentary floral cocktail at the hotel’s Caxton Bar.
St. Ermin’s Hotel September Honey Month:
St. Ermin’s Hotel celebrates the hard work of its bee colony throughout the month of September, the second summer harvest of delicious honey. Flying a three mile radius, visiting many prestigious addresses such as Buckingham Palace, St James’s Park and flower boxes in Mayfair, the St Ermin’s bees gather nectar from 53 types of plants, flowers and trees including sweet chestnut, blackberry and horse chestnut.
I love bees! When can I go to St. Ermin’s Hotel?
For guests with only two legs and no wings who would like to check in for an overnight stay, full English breakfast and bee keeping workshop in May or September, prices start from £259.00 per night.
Bee Workshops
St. Ermin’s Hotel Bee Keeping Workshops, lead by bee guru Camilla Goddard, last 2.5 hours and cost £25 pp including a floral cocktail at the Caxton Bar. Full bee suits provided. For further information and to reserve a place during the hotel’s September Honey Month, email Gemma Wren on: gwren@sterminshotel.co.uk.
Remaining available dates:
Saturday 13th September, 12 noon
Tuesday, 16th September, 6pm
Saturday, 20th September, 12 noon
