A SCHEME to help create havens for bees in the gardens of new-build houses is being rolled out across Vistry Group’s Thames Valley region after the success of a pilot scheme in Basingstoke.

The housebuilder’s Building Homes for Bees scheme, launched to support the work of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, started at Linden Homes’ Hounsome Fields location.

The project – which aims to help homeowners make their gardens bee-friendly by providing them with a bee guide and pack of wildflower seeds – is now being expanded to cover all of Vistry Thames Valley’s Linden Homes and Bovis Homes developments across Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey.

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Alix Laflin, marketing manager for Vistry Thames Valley, said: “Bees are great pollinators and play a vital role in producing the food that we eat, but their numbers are in decline.

“The good news is that we can all play a part in helping provide havens for bees by ensuring there are plenty of flowering plants for them in our gardens. That’s why we’re providing wildflower seeds and bee guides to new residents in all our locations to encourage them to create bee-friendly spaces.

“The aim of the project is to strengthen biodiversity and sustain wildlife by providing flower-rich environments across the Thames Valley region as well as to raise awareness about the issue and the work of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.”

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The Bumblebee Conservation Trust was founded in 2006 and has a mission to increase the number and distribution of bumblebees. Its aims include improving the understanding of bumblebee ecology and conservation, increasing the quality and quantity of bumblebee habitat and inspiring and enabling a diverse range of people to take action for bumblebees.

For information about its work, visit bumblebeeconservation.org/.

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