WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 20, 2009 -- In response to the
nation's Honey Bee shortage and as part of the hotel's environmental
stewardship program, The Fairmont Washington, D.C. has recently
welcomed 105,000 Italian honey bees to their new home. The rooftop of
The Fairmont Washington, D.C. is now abuzz with three honey beehives
and their residents. The bees will enhance the hotel's culinary program
along with its interior courtyard garden that already provides fresh
herbs and flowers such as edible pansies, and the plants, trees and
flowers in the surrounding West End neighborhood.
Executive
Sous Chef Ian Bens and Executive
Pastry Chef Aron Weber will share the responsibility of Chief Bee
Keeper. They expect
to retrieve 300 pounds of honey
within the first year. Honey
harvested from the Fairmont's
Bee Hives will be used in soups,
salad dressings, pastries, ice cream and other culinary delights in the
hotel's
restaurant Juniper.
Each of the Fairmont's
beehives house one queen bee and
about 33,000 worker bees. They travel up
to three miles away from their rooftop home foraging for food, and
always
return to their respective hives. Nearby Rock Creek Park
offers trees and plants with the essential nectar they must gather for
their
work.
"Many
pollinating bees have disappeared due
to habitat loss and pollution. Creating
these new hives helps keep the bee population healthy and helps to
ensure that
plants are pollinated, which is also essential for insects, birds and
animals
to survive. Eventually, The Fairmont
hopes to use the honeycomb to create candles, soaps and even lip balm”,
states
Executive Sous Chef and Bee Keeper Ian Bens.
The
Fairmont Bees came from Larry & David
Reece in Germantown,
Maryland. The Reece
family has been keeping
bees for over 150 years, and are widely respected among local
beekeepers. They are
extremely bee-centered, rather than
commercially oriented beekeepers, which explains the long-term strength
and
viability of their hives.
The
Fairmont Washington, D.C. is the only hotel
in the nation's capital currently raising Honey Bees. The Fairmont buzz
started at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto,
and is spreading from coast to coast as several more Queen Bees move
into
residence at The Fairmont Algonquin in St. Andrews,
New Brunswick and The Fairmont
Waterfront in Vancouver,
British Columbia.
Fairmont
Hotels & Resorts, a leader in
sustainable tourism, was the first major hotel chain in North America to embrace environmental
stewardship in its daily
operations through the implementation of its own Green Partnership
Program. The
Fairmont Washington, DC has fully embraced this pledge to waste
management,
energy and water conservation. The hotel's environmental committee has
developed a number of programs incorporating the environmental mantra
reduce,
reuse and recycle into the hotel's daily operating practices.
Located at
2401 M Street, NW, The Fairmont
Washington, D.C. is convenient to the finest museums, theaters
(including the Kennedy
Center),
shopping and dining. Close to two
metro stations, it is five miles
from Reagan National Airport
and 33 miles
from Dulles
International Airport. At
415 rooms and luxury suites, The Fairmont
Washington, D.C. offers a wealth of facilities while maintaining an air
of
tranquility insured through the design of intimate spaces, plenty of
natural
daylight, and a cascade of plants both inside and out.
About Fairmont Hotels &
Resorts
A leader in
the global hospitality industry,
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a celebrated collection of distinctive
hotels,
which includes iconic landmarks like Fairmont Le Château
Frontenac in Québec City, Kenya's
Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, and London's
The Savoy, reopening later this year following an extensive restoration
program. Fairmont
hotels are one-of-a-kind properties where sophisticated travelers can
discover
culturally rich experiences that are authentic to the destination. Situated in
some of the most exclusive and
pristine areas in the world, Fairmont is committed to responsible
tourism and
is an industry leader in sustainable hotel management with its
award-winning
Green Partnership program. Fairmont's
portfolio
includes 56 world-class hotels, with plans to develop over 30 new
properties in
the coming years in destinations as diverse as Shanghai,
The Philippines and India.
Fairmont is owned by
Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, a
leading global hotel company with 91 hotels worldwide under the
Raffles, Fairmont
and Swissôtel
brands. The company also manages Fairmont
and Raffles branded Residences, Estates and luxury private residence
club
properties. For more information or reservations, please call
1-800-441-1414 or
visit www.fairmont.com.
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