AtelierD’s Giant Honeycomb Bee Hotel Attracts Pollinators & Humans Alike

The K-abeilles Hotel for Bees is more than just an intriguing pavilion built for the 2012 Muttersholtz Archi Festival in in France. The giant honeycomb wall is an attractive retreat for wild bees who like to burrow into the tight spaces. Designed by <a href="http://www.atelierd.org/" target="_blank">AtelierD</a>, the pavilion features a honeycomb installation on one side that is perfect for bees, while the other side offers a shady resting spot for humans built with the same honeycomb panels. Visitors to the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/pavilion">pavilion</a> can rest and also watch nature in action through some of the open panels.

The <a href="http://www.archi20.eu/" target="_blank">Muttersholtz Archi Festival</a> took place last September and brought together students, architects and artists interested in sustainable development and eco-tourism.

Groups built simple and modest habitats that were a mix of land art, contemporary art, and architecture. Among them was <a href="http://www.atelierd.org/" target="_blank">AtelierD's Hotel for Bees</a>, a 20 sq meter pavilion for both bees and humans alike.

Built from wood, the pavilion features one wall of hexagonal compartments filled with various bits and pieces like bricks, twigs, reeds, bark, hay and more.

On the other side, the pavilion is made for humans with a shady room featuring the same hexagonal panels.

he panels are also used to create benches, seating and cubbies to put things in. From the backside in the pavilion visitors can also observe the bees up close and watch them go about their lives.

The K-Abeilles Hotel for Bees is an extra large bee hive that acts as a refuge for both bees and humans and encourages them to co-mingle and enjoy nature.