What’s That Buzz? It’s Probably a Bee Hotel.

Good morning. Today we’ll look at why the city is putting “bee hotels” in some plazas and Open Streets areas. We’ll also get details on a no-confidence vote against the president of Columbia University.

Credit…New York City Department of Transportation

New York City is getting seven hotels that won’t take reservations. They won’t put chocolates on the pillow at night — they won’t have pillows. Or beds, bathrooms or TripAdvisor ratings.

They are “bee hotels” intended to attract an at-risk population — smallish native bees that do not always find habitats in urban areas. The bee hotel installations will serve as stopovers between green spaces.

But not just for a night or two. The female bees will lay eggs in them and leave food so that the bees that hatch can grow over the summer.

The bee hotels look like birdhouses. They are going up in plazas and in Open Streets areas that are the domain of the city Department of Transportation. Officials from the agency and from the Horticultural Society of New York — which maintains the flower beds in 30 plazas, 25 Open Streets areas and various other public spaces around the city — say passers-by should not worry about being stung. The species that will be drawn to the bee hotels“never or very rarely sting,” a spokesman for the department said.