A bug hotel shaped like a whare has been destroyed by fire, angering Christchurch City Council ranger staff.

The structure was installed in the Ōtakaro Avon River Corridor in April 2022 to help boost the population of native bees.

Christchurch City Council Urban Rangers designed and installed the hotel in the Horseshoe Lake regeneration area as part of an effort to establish more colonies of native bees. These bees play a vital role in pollinating native plants such as mānuka, kānuka, and pōhutukawa.

The hotel was filled with natural materials, including flax, pinecones, and bamboo, to provide a suitable habitat for the bees to thrive.

As the Horseshoe Lake area holds significant cultural value as a mahinga kai site for Māori, the rangers shaped the bug hotel like a whare to reflect its cultural importance.

The whare was the first in a planned series of bug hotels for the area.

Residential Red Zone Manager Dave Little told chrislynchmedia.com, “We’re incredibly disappointed to see this small community project, which promotes local biodiversity in the Ōtakaro Avon River Corridor, destroyed.

“It’s also very concerning to see a fire lit in this area,” Little said. “There is the potential that it could have gotten out of control and become a much more dangerous situation. Fortunately, this time it was isolated to the bug hotel.”