London's buzziest bee&bee: Hotel installs own bee-joux guesthouse just for bumbles

The bee sanctuary has been set up in St Ermin’s Hotel, in St James’s Park

Hotel has devoted space on its third floor balcony to more than 300,000 bees

Created stylish purple hexagon suites for the bees as 'accommodation'



A London hotel has devoted space on its third floor balcony to more than 300,000 guests - in the form of bees.



The bee sanctuary at St Ermin’s Hotel, in St James’s Park, is the first of its kind in the capital and the hotel now has an entire wall dedicated to the insects.



The hotel offers stylish purple hexagon suites for the bees in what has been dubbed a 'bijou BEE&b. '



A London hotel has devoted space on its third floor to more than 300,000 guests - in the form of bees

The bee sanctuary at St Ermin's Hotel, in St James's Park, is the first of its kind in the capital and the hotel now has an entire wall dedicated to the much-loved insects

The hotel offers stylish hexagon suites for the bees in what has been dubbed a 'bijou BEE&b'

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.

It is also home to entire colony of buckfast bees - a man-made species bred in the early 20th century at Buckfast Abbey, Devon, to combat a disease decimating local colonies.



Now the bees - which can come and go as they please from the outside space - have been given bamboo nesting areas as well as specially designed log-style homes for solitary species of bumblebee.



Sweet success: The hotel's bee-keeper Camilla Goddard (left) teaches guests how to collect raw honey



Ms Goddard says: 'I really want to encourage more people to help by creating more forage for bee'

The bee hotel also provides a variety of special areas for other helpful insects including rolled cardboard swirls for lacewing and crevice stacks for ladybirds, earwigs, woodlice and spiders

The bee hotel also provides a variety of special areas for other helpful insects including rolled cardboard swirls for lacewing and crevice stacks for ladybirds, earwigs, woodlice and spiders. Ms Goddard said: 'Bees are suffering massive decline and have a lot of challenges at the moment, including reduced natural forage, such as wild flower meadows.

'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.'



Ms Goddard is offering a series of small group taster bee keeping workshops at the St Ermin’s Hotel during the Chelsea Fringe period and again in September.



Heaven scent: The terrace is dotted with wildflowers and bee-friendly plants

Causing a buzz: The 'bee hotel' is located on the third floor terrace at St Ermin's Hotel in St James Park



