Brighton woods to be made bee friendly

An overgrown patch of ground in Brighton is being cleared and turned into a bee friendly habitat.

Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth is working with the Friends of Hollingbury and Burstead Woods to create a haven for bees.

Both groups plan to clear the steep south-facing slope of Hollingbury Woods tomorrow (Sunday 6 January) from 10am to 1pm.

Volunteers are meeting outside the old flint barn by the western entrance to the Roedale allotments at 10am.

The organisers said that clearing the overgrown patch would expose chalky soil which some bees love.

Lesley Brown, projects officer with Friends of Hollingbury and Burstead Woods, said: “We are really pleased to be creating a new environment which will not only encourage bees but a whole range of other wildlife in the woods.”

The site is one of 60 “bee worlds” being created around the country as part of Friends of the Earth’s Bee Cause campaign.

The organisers said that in the 60 years since the Queen came to the throne 97 per cent of the country’s important natural grasslands had been lost.

As part of the Bee Cause campaign – and to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – Friends of the Earth committed to creating 60 bee-friendly patches in towns and rural areas across the country.

Monica Jennings, from Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth, said: “We hope to encourage a range of solitary bees such as red mason bees, carpenter bees and leafcutter bees.

“Solitary bees are important as crop pollinators and we need to ensure they survive.”

Friends of the Earth is urging people to sign a petition to ask the Prime Minister David Cameron to create a national “Bee Action Plan”. It can be signed here.