Notts Plan Bee’ is a Sprout project run by Libby Welbourn and Owen Hackett that aims to encourage and protect Bumblebee and wild Honeybee populations in the city of Nottingham. The main way in which they hope to achieve this is by planting wildflowers and some cottage garden plants, which are loved by bumblebees, at sites around the city.
They also hope to plant some vegetable crops such as beans and raspberries and some herbs, which are good for both bees and people! They would also like to produce some artificial nesting sites in amongst our flowers to encourage queen bees when they are scouting for sites in early spring.
Why Protect Bees?
In Britain we have one species of honeybee and twenty four species of bumblebee, six of which are most likely to be seen in gardens, parks and other open spaces. Three other species have become extinct already and many others are suffering population declines due to a number of reasons.
One of the reasons is that modern garden flowers are bred to be showier than the wildflowers and old cottage garden plants from which they are derived, and produce little pollen and nectar which the bees rely on to feed themselves and their developing young.
This loss of our bee populations is very worrying as they are such important insects. Bees are responsible for the pollination of our wildflowers, without which our rural ecosystems would change dramatically. Equally as important as the pollination of these wild plants by our bees is the pollination of our fruit and vegetable crops which they undertake . Bees are a keystone species, meaning they have a greater effect on their ecosystem than other species within that ecosystem. As such, many species depend on the presence of bees for their own existence.
How you can get involved
For the project to be successful Libby and Owen are looking for sites where They can plant wild flowers to encourage the bee population – such as allotments and community areas etc.
- Do you have an allotment site or are you involved with a community garden or park where we could plant some wild flowers?
They will also need some hands-on volunteers to help us with the planting out of flowers in spring, and the creation of nesting sites.
- Get in touch if you’d like to volunteer or if you know of other people who would like to help!
In the summer they will also be holding a bee-related family activity day to raise awareness of bees and their project – so they’re looking for volunteers who’d like to help with the event.
- If you would like to get involved, we’d love to hear from you – please get in touch!
Please contact notts.planbee@googlemail.com or phone Libby on 07591265888
