LAS CRUCES – A new hotel is on the way to town, one that aims to be swarming with bugs in no time.
Hailed as the Bee Hotel, the unique boutique property is the project of Patricia Barger, State Regent of the New Mexico Society Organization Daughters of the American Revolution.
Barger initiated the Bee Hotel effort as her State Regent’s project to help save the planet.
“We are in the midst of an insect apocalypse,” she explained. “Pollinators are in crisis and declining in number due to the loss of important foraging and nesting habitats.”
Enter the Bee Hotel, a nesting site for pollinators and is located in a place with different plants. Bees are the predominant pollinators, but the bee hotel is also said to attract beetles, flies, ants, moths, butterflies and even bats, to name a few.
Barger explained that today’s problem for pollinators is tomorrow’s problem for humans.
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it,” she said. “People can do positive things at a very local level to protect pollinators in contrast to larger environmental issues.”
As a result, Barger enlisted NMSODAR members in central and four corners of New Mexico to build hotels for endangered pollinators. Las Cruces is one of the chosen locations.
The Doña Ana Chapter of NMSODAR is excited about Borger’s project, said Linda Bartlett, Regent of the local DAR Chapter.
“We hope the community will get involved and help make southern New Mexico a little more hospitable to the dwindling population of pollinators, a global problem,” Bartlett noted. “Making the hotel successful can definitely raise awareness and become a community effort.”
Bartlett added that the mission of the DAR’s National Conservation Committee – to educate members about pressing environmental issues and promote good management practices for a more sustainable future – is important to today’s daughters.
The hotels will be made from recycled materials “which can be anything … like roof tiles, pieces of wood, gravel, bricks, felled trees, logs or pine cones,” Barger said. She implores Las Crucens to “keep your eyes peeled for things that are good for insects.”
Barger said there should only be a subtle difference between the bee hotels and a natural habitat.
“Nevertheless, it should be better organized and built to attract a greater variety of pollinators in a more concentrated space. I often encourage people who want to attract pollinators to start by creating a pile of pottery shards, wood or twigs, rocks, sunflower stalks, and leaves in a corner of their garden.
“There are no particular criteria for building the hotel,” Barger explained, “other than that it be made of materials found in the natural habitat of pollinators and that the objects are safe and untreated.”
Hotels should be anchored securely and raised to a sufficient height off the ground so that the insects are not harmed in heavy rain, she said. If you’re trying to attract bats, nocturnal pollinators, the structure should be at least six feet tall. A height of 12 feet would be even better, Barger noted.
The spaces to include when building the hotel are suggested by the building criteria, she said, but often depend on the upcycled materials available.
Barger also urged the public to keep their eyes peeled for suitable hotel locations. She suggested that Las Cruces walkers and hikers should keep an eye out for open spaces that could support the hotel, ideally where a variety of plants that need pollination are already growing.
“If an entire community made small changes, the payoff would be felt widely,” Barger said. “Ask yourself: How can I help bees and other pollinators?”
“We can all fight climate change by acting sustainably,” she said. “Everyone can do their part by planting a variety of plants to attract a variety of pollinators. We need to be biodiverse and we want as many insect inhabitants as possible.”
“We can think creatively about how we manage our own farms and the public lands in our communities,” Barger said. “If an entire community made small changes, the payoff would be felt far and wide.”
The hotel structures can be built by volunteers, although some funds have been set aside to pay for construction if needed, Barger said.
Barger said she has been a lifelong insect lover. Growing up in the Midwest, she has always been fascinated by insects, especially ladybugs and praying mantises.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and management from the University of Maryland, a graduate degree from the University of Georgetown and a law degree from the University of La Verne in California. But her love for bugs never waned.
Barger became a master gardener in 2009, a master composter in 2010 and took a climate sustainability course in 2011.
Some of her happiest times are working in her garden, she said, and she’s committed to doing her part to “give the next generation of pollinators safe, sheltered places to lay eggs, raise their young and overwinter.”
“The next time you see a pollinator visiting a flower, know that by starting projects like this, its species has a better chance of surviving,” Barger said.
For more information on the Las Cruces DAR Chapter or to volunteer with the Bee Hotel Project, call Mary Lee Bailey Shelton at 575-644-5121.
