The next stage in our plan was to create habitat for our VIP visitors, hence the creation of our Bee Hotel!
Globally there are more honey bees than any other pollinating insects, making them the most important pollinator of food crops.
In the UK we have 25 native species of bumble bee but they are in serious decline. Without Bees our eco systems would grind to a halt, and Bees are therefore really important in maintaining biodiversity in the countryside and the pollination of many of our food crops. The idea of constructing a Bee Hotel was born, and two volunteers decided to design and construct our Bee Hotel. After a lot of hard work the Bee Hotel was finished and we were fascinated to see how quickly the new inhabitants arrived!
The wild flower meadow created in 2013/14 has created a traditional hay meadow (which satisfies a significant part of CWaC’s target) and is full of wild flowers and grasses which attract bees and other insects. The hedgerows around the Cowfield and the mounds of brash near the Bee Hotel provide a safe haven for hedgehogs and other small invertebrates. The Cowfield provides a natural home for all manner of creatures who can co-exist happily.
