Help Build the Biggest Bee House in the World!

Wildlife charity, London Wildlife Trust, and design company Make:Good are joining their strengths to break the Guinness Record for building the world’s biggest Bee House at Barking Riverside.

We need people to help construct this record-breaking bee house on Saturday 18^th June, which is being sponsored by the Big Lottery Fund and Barking Riverside Ltd.

To join in with this record-breaking attempt, come to the Barking Riverside Project Office at 2pm till 5pm on Saturday 18^th June. Please contact the Barking Riverside Conservation Officer, fbarker@wildlondon.org.uk or 07971 077095 for more details.

Barking Riverside is an extremely valuable place for bees, and supports at least 37 different native species. The Barking Riverside Bee House will provide important nesting habitat specifically for our native solitary bees. Solitary bees are the lesser known bees that don’t form a colony, make vast amounts of honey, or sting, but make up 90% of our bee population. Although our solitary bees are in decline in Britain, you can help, by building them a nesting box in your garden, or by joining us at Barking Riverside on 18^th June.

Solitary bees look for small tunnels or holes in which to make their individual nest cells for their larvae. So they should love the Barking Riverside Bee House, which will form a 13m² structure consisting of hundreds of bamboo sticks of varying lengths and diameters, alongside logs with “beetle-like” bored holes. The bamboo sticks mimic dead plant stems which are a natural nesting material for certain solitary bees.

To find out more about the Barking Riverside’s wildlife see www.wildlondon.org.uk/projects/barkingriversideconservationproject and sign up to http://barkingriversideconservation.blogspot.com/ To make a one-off donation to London Wildlife Trust simply text WILDLIFE to 70007. The text will cost £3 plus your standard network rate.

Photo opportunity / For more information and pictures contact:

Francesca Barker, 07971 077095, fbarker@wildlondon.org.uk