Bee Houses Installed By Conservancy In Riverside Park: See It

RIVERSIDE PARK, NY — For the first time, special houses were installed this summer in Riverside Park for native bees.

Riverside Park Conservancy teamed up with the Bee Conservancy to place bee houses in Riverside Park South and in the pollinator meadow near West 119th Street.

The houses will provide safe shelter for native bees such as Mason bees, Carpenter bees, Leaf-cutter bees, and Bumble bees. The houses can also help the bees get through hibernation season, and increase the population for years to come.

“We think of Riverside Park as a piece of a larger puzzle of green space in New York City,” said Dan Garodnick, President & CEO of Riverside Park Conservancy, in a news release. “We extend a warm welcome to any native bees that want to make a home in the new houses, and will continue our work to ensure Riverside Park is as ecologically healthy as possible.”

Bee populations are struggling across the world due to habitat loss caused by the expansion of suburbs and urban environments, as well as the increased use of pesticides.

Native bees do not create the iconic honey-producing hives that people associate with the buzzing insect, so the bee houses mimic plant reeds and cavities in trees they would natural shelter in.

You can learn more about the Riverside Park Conservancy on its website.