JERSEY CITY, N.J.—Hyatt Regency Jersey City welcomed its largest check-in to date earlier this week. Working in conjunction with Hilltop Honey located in North Caldwell, N.J., Hyatt Regency Jersey City installed two honeybee hives with approximately 32,000 resident bees per hive. The bees are perched on the hotel’s fifth floor rooftop suite complete with views of the World Trade Center development, and will assist in a statewide agricultural initiative to increase pollination.
The Mayor of Jersey City, the State of New Jersey apiarist, and the State Secretary of Agriculture were present on April 30 for the official bee launch. This event helped kick off Project 365, Jersey City’s Green Week beginning on May 1. The City will feature different events each day of the week, which highlights and promotes green and sustainable living throughout the year, not only on Earth Day.
“We have received an outpouring of interest in this project and we are very excited to be part of this state agricultural initiative,” said Terry Dunbar, Hyatt Regency Jersey City’s general manager. “The bees will not interfere with the guest experience and they will eventually produce honey. When the honey is harvested, the hotel will offer samples to guests and incorporate it into our menus at our signature restaurant, Vu.”
Honeybees, the New Jersey state insect, will assist in pollinating a wide area around the hotel, which includes nearby farmlands. The successes of many state produced crops are dependent on honeybee pollination, including apples, cranberries, cantaloupe, watermelon and blueberries, the state fruit.
“Our partnership with Hilltop Honey is an extension of Hyatt’s corporate responsibility platform, Hyatt Thrive, where our goal is to help make our communities places where our associates are proud to work, our guests want to visit and our neighbors want to live,” said Hyatt Regency Jersey City executive chef, Cathy Kearney. “With this pollination project, we hope to make a make a difference in the lives we touch every day.”
Go to the Hyatt Regency Jersey City.
