A new hotel dubbed the Sunshine Hilton could help save a rare and endangered orchid.
The Sunshine diuris orchid, which once grew abundantly across the grasslands north-west of Melbourne is survived by fewer than 50 wild specimens, all confined to one site in Sunshine.
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning natural environment program officer Karen Lester said a newly constructed ‘bee hotel’ could play a vital role in the survival of the orchid.
“We may end up with the right pollinator for the orchid in the bee hotel,” she said.
The bee hotel hasn’t yet attracted a large amount of bees, but as the hotel was only installed in December, Ms Lester said it’s a matter of trial and error.
“We have seen two different species of orange-brown resin bees, that seem to favour the bamboo and timber.
“We plan to try different materials, and different sized holes, to see what is attracted.”
As for the orchid, while it’s slow going, Ms Lester said signs are positive.
“When I started here there were just three of them. We’ve managed to increase that number to 48,” she said.
“We haven’t yet managed to grow them anywhere else, there’s something unique about this site we haven’t been able to replicate.”
