Children get sowing to protect the bees

Tuesday 07 May 2019

Students and teachers at Blanchelande College are working with the Pollinator Project to help protect local insects.

The school is setting up a 'pollinator patch' which will see the children get involved in planning, sowing seeds and surveying which insects use the area.

"It gives them a really good flavour of how to create eco-systems," said Vanessa Crispini-Adams from the Pollinator Project. "Insect numbers are in serious decline and in fact there are a lot of scientists that are really concerned. We are starting with the youngsters to tell them that we have a part to play. When you survey the land in Guernsey, a third of the land is gardens so the people could make a really significant impact.

"It is all positive stuff. A lot of the environmental stories are quite doom and gloom whereas we have got the power to do something individually and as a community and make a real positive difference."

Risk consultancy firm, Redwood has also joined in with the initiative by launching a 'Create a Bumblebee' competition encouraging children to learn more about the island's native bees.

Students from all local schools have been asked to choose one of six native bumblebees, find out more about them and then design their own bees. The winning child will win a £500 Grow Limited voucher while the runner-up will get a £100 voucher for Le Friquet Garden Centre.

Pictured: Blanchelande students Ella Tucker and Niamh Cameron with the bees they designed.

"We definitely had fun doing them," said 11-year-old Ella Tucker from Blanchelande. "I chose the buff-tailed bumblebee and we got given a leaflet showing us what they looked like. I learnt there were lots of types of bumblebees - I didn't know that there were so many!"

Fellow 11-year-old student Niamh Cameron added: "I chose the red tailed bumblebee. I used shiny tape and card and pipe cleaners."

Redwood is working in conjunction with the Guernsey Arts Commission to run the competition, which follows a similar initiative around Christmas last year.

"The best way with children is to have fun. If it's positive they are much more likely to get involved and understand it better. So we thought, having done the Christmas card competition, what a great way to get these children involved. You have to start early really because these are our future generations and we want them to fully understand and be interactive with the issue."

All of the bee entries will be on display in the foyer of Le Friquet Garden Centre between 18 and 25 May to celebrate International Day of the Bee on 20 May.