Conscious Comeback
Pollinator power: Honeybees at work.
Bees are essential to the planet’s ecosystem – and at some hotels, they provide sweet and sustainable experiences for guests. BY ADAM ERACE
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of the first spring blooms around Miraval Arizona, the wellness refuge in Tucson’s high desert. Mexican gold poppy, desert lupine, and other wildflowers follow, erupting like bursts of confetti and inviting the resort’s 350,000 (or more) honeybees to join the party. Thirsty for nectar, the bees tumble around in the pollen, transporting reproductive material between the male and female plants. They repeat this dance with the cacti and then the trees – mesquite, acacia, palo verde – which bloom last. This desert ecosystem wouldn’t exist without bees: In fact, 80 percent of the world’s flowering plants require a pollinator. The bees pollinate whenever plants are in bloom, carrying nectar back to the 35 hives spread across Miraval’s grounds. Once they’ve
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Something to Buzz About
ONDON ROCKET, A WILD COUSIN OF ARUGULA, IS ONE