News / 04. September 2018

Bees have checked in

With the assistance of local beekeepers, we give these agriculturally important insects a new home and, as an added bonus, our guests can enjoy the hotel’s own honey during harvest time, and this can also be bought at our hotel receptions, depending on the harvest.

Where are our beehives located?

At the ATLANTIC Hotel Sail City in Bremerhaven as well as at the ATLANTIC Hotel in Kiel, ATLANTIC Hotel Lübeck and the ATLANTIC Hotel Airport in Bremen, our bees enjoy a fantastic view from the roof of the hotel or the Conference Center. At the ATLANTIC Hotel Universum and ATLANTIC Hotel Landgut Horn, the bees benefit from the green surroundings while, on the terrace of the ATLANTIC Grand Hotel Travemünde and ATLANTIC Hotel Wilhelmshaven, our hardworking little helpers breathe fresh sea air and, at the Severin*s Resort and Spa on Sylt, they cavort on a lush green meadow.

Learn more about our four beehives in Bremerhaven.

Why are bees so important to us?

Children are already taught that bees need the plant nectar as food and plants are also dependent on the bees, because without the pollination by the bees there would be no spreading of the pollen and thus no propagation of plants.

According to “Agroscope”, the Swiss research centre for agriculture, about 80% of wild plant species depend on pollination by bees or at least benefit in some way from their work. As a result, these pollinators play an important role in the agricultural ecosystem.

“Once the bee disappears from the earth, man has only four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more people.” (Albert Einstein, 1949).

This fact underlines the significance of the humble bee – the world’s most important farm animal (after pigs and cattle). The bee population has been watched with concern for years. The global decline and the resulting losses of honey bee colonies in Europe amounted to approximately 20 percent last winter. But which influences lead to bee mortality? The possible reasons for this are monocultures, pests, diseases and a lack of beekeepers.

Support for beekeepers

The German Beekeepers’ Association has stated that, of around 100,000 people keeping bees in Germany, less than one percent do so as their main occupation. Together, the German beekeepers harvest about 15,000 to 25,000 tonnes of honey per year, which corresponds to only about 20 percent of the honey demand in Germany. The remaining honey requirement is imported. The need for care and protection of the local honeybees and the profession’s low profitability keep many interested people away from beekeeping.

The Bee-Rent initiative

This is why the Bee-Rent initiative helps to foster the little “buzzy-bodies”. The ATLANTIC Hotels are supported by a professional team of beekeepers and harvest their own ATLANTIC honey, which is then partly offered to the guests for breakfast or for sale.

Our guests don’t have to worry – the new workers are by no means dangerous! Bees concentrate exclusively on their food and the smells and fragrances that lie in the air. As long as they do not feel threatened, bees stay calm and friendly and go about their business through the air. At the ATLANTIC Hotels, you will only be served a bee sting in the form of the traditional German “Bienenstich” cake!