Bee Squared Project 2024

After the success of the 'Bee Squared Project' in 2023, Higham Ferrers Town Council allocated funds to replicate the project in 2024.

Primary Schools: Higham Ferrers Junior School, Henry Chichele School and Higham Ferrers Nursery and Infant School are again eager to be involved in the project to specifically help solitary bees survive by encouraging all pupils to add a square metre of bee loving plants to their gardens in the ground or in pots. Each pupil will receive a packet of seeds which contains a seed mixture of Corncockle, Cornflower, Corn Chamomile, Corn Marigold, and Common Poppy and instructions on how to sow the seeds in late March/early April.

Because of the demand for the seed packets in 2023 from the residents of Higham Ferrers, we have produced packets for the general public which will be freely available at a number of the Town's shops and at the Higham Ferrers Town Council Office after the seed packets have been distributed to the schools in late March.

Information about Bees:

In the UK alone, there are 267 species of bee. Over 90% of them are not social and do not live in colonies — these are solitary bees. Solitary bees vary considerably in size, appearance, and where they choose to nest. Roughly 70% are called mining bees and nest in underground burrows. Bees that nest in houses are called cavity-nesting bees. Solitary bees do not live in colonies, produce honey, or have a queen. While honey bees use wax to construct the cells inside their nest, different species of solitary bees use all sorts of materials to make their homes – for example, leaf-cutter bees use tiny leaf pieces within their nests, which might be in a hollow plant stem, dead wood or a crack in a weathered wall. They don't have pollen baskets for carrying pollen, meaning that each time they visit a flower they lose far more pollen than social bees. This makes them much better pollinators: a single red mason bee is equivalent to 120 worker honey bees in the pollination services it provides. As they do not return to a hive, they need to 'refuel' via flowers every few metres.

Photo Credit: Alison Bates.