“Where possible, and within reason, adopt a more tolerant attitude to bee colonies in buildings, and of hived bee colonies in one’s neighbourhood. If we want bees we need to make space for them.”– Dr David Heaf, The Bee-friendly Beekeeper
Sai Vishram has always been a hotel with a conscience. We are conscientious about the positive framework of our operations, about the food we serve and most importantly, about our environment.
A few years into its opening, we began to notice bee colonies springing up at the cornices of our windows. For a moment, we were alarmed and concerned over possible bee attacks and customer reactions. It took some introspection before we decided to let them stay. Not for commercial use, not for monetary gains but for the purpose of “letting them be”.
In the times that we live in, the danger of losing nature’s grip on our lives looms large. For a good yield, plants don’t just need water, manure and pest protection. Many plants need bees, butterflies and other insects to transfer their pollen from male to female flowers, and thereby bringing about fertilization and fruiting. The decline in the bee population is a cause for concern in the agricultural community as it might even impact the country’s food security. Honey bees are a crucial component of the dynamic ecosystem and their numbers are dwindling due to loss of habitat and the impact of pesticides.
Hive colonies are also collapsing on account of radiation from mobile phone towers that disrupt the worker bees’ navigational skills in finding their way back to the hives. As trees grow scarcer, due to extensive tree felling in the city’s move towards building better infrastructure and due to increased levels of pollution, beehives have captured high-rises. Taking the above factors into consideration, we are honored to have the bee community grace our premises, taking our commitment to our environment one step further.
We are aware of the concerns expressed by our patrons of possible attacks and would like to assure them that there is a threat of attack only when the bees themselves feel threatened. The bees are actually too busy to disturb human activity, as observed by Gopal Paliwal, bee scientist at the Centre for Bee Development (CBD) at Wardha in Maharashtra. (The Hindu May 9, 2011). We firmly believe that we will receive the cooperation and a steady hand on the shoulder, from our esteemed patrons, towards this endeavor, and look forward to addressing all concerns raised with a mindful solution.
