Students from Stroud High School and Marling Sixth Form are working with the University of Gloucestershire and the Global Bee Project to create the perfect bee house.
The UK hosts 250+ different bee species, including over 200 types of solitary bee. Unlike honeybees and commercially managed bumblebees, wild solitary bees live all around us. They perform an extremely valuable ecological role by pollinating different plants.
With a Royal Society Partnership Grant, the students are creating a bee house to conserve solitary bees. They have researched their preferred nesting habits to produce and refine designs to accommodate these conditions. They have researched suitable locations for the bee houses around school grounds to test the final design. They will then advise the Global Bee Project on the best design.
"The project is teaching students about scientific processes and creative design to help the global effort to address the dangerous decline of bee populations worldwide," says Jessie Jowers, Director of the Global Bee Project.
Visitors to the exhibit will see how the students created designs for the ultimate bee house. They will learn about the importance of different bee species, how to be a Bee Guardian to help all bees, and make a simple bee house.
Exhibiting at A winning partnership: science in schools between Friday 2 July and Sunday 4 July 2010.
Exhibited by Stroud High School, the University of Gloucestershire, Global Bee Project
Exhibition video by Elizabeth Hauke
