Retford: New hotel guests make a beeline for Ranby House

Members of the Ranby House Eco-Committee with two of the bee hotels that will be installed at the school

Excited members of the Retford-based Prep School Eco-Committee were presented with their very own Bee Hotel from Michelle Holland of Sainsbury’s in Worksop, as part of Sainsbury’s Bee Hotel programme.

As part of the national scheme to protect the UK’s bees and wildflowers, Sainsbury’s have been teaching school children to respect their bee neighbours and helping them to survive and increase pollination by installing Bee Hotels at their schools.

Sainsbury’s’ ambition is to be the biggest owner of Bee Hotels in the country by 2020.

Michelle Holland said: “Without bees we wouldn’t have the wonderful fresh fruit, vegetables and cereals that we enjoy every day to stay healthy.”

“Bees play a huge part in the food business because without them our farmers and growers wouldn’t be able to grow and provide the supplies that eventually you buy off the shelves in Sainsbury’s.”

The Bee Hotels are for solitary bees, the type that do not sting because they have no honey to protect.

The small wooden huts make the ideal place for solitary bees to live and help them do all of the pollenating that flowers need.

Head of Science at Ranby House, Russell Sault, who also runs the school’s Eco-Committee added: “The Eco-Committee were really excited to learn more about bees and how to look after the Bee Hotel.”

“We are hoping now to build more of our own Bee Hotels.”

“On behalf of the Eco-Committee I would like to thank Sainsbury’s for a great way to get young people more involved in learning and protecting nature and the environment.”