Native bees are set for a boost from a joint initiative of the Epping Road upgrade team and Wollert Secondary College.
The team and about 50 year 7 students built 10 ‘bee hotels’ at the college to encourage the growth of the bees’ populations in Wollert.
As solitary bees that don’t form colonies or hives, the hotels will provide them with places to rest, nest and breed over the cooler months.
The project team conducted the initiative over two sessions in early August, with some of the materials coming from the Epping Road construction site.
The hotels were installed on a grassland area and with north-east aspects to maximise sunlight and pollen production.
Wollert Secondary College learning support officer Brigette Fletcher said the students were very excited to work on the initiative.
“As well as learning how to design and build a bee hotel, the project taught the students important environmental lessons about the importance of bees,” she said. “It has given them knowledge they can use and pass on to their families to help ensure bees continue to be a vital part of the environment now and in the future.”
“From creating and designing the hotels to the daily upkeep, it gave our school community an opportunity to learn and teach a generation of students new and fun ways to experience environmental learning, which was amazing.”
Major Road Projects Victoria program director Adrian Furner said spending time in the community and working to achieve positive environmental and sustainability outcomes is a strong focus for our team.
“The bee hotels are a wonderful legacy initiative for our community on behalf of the Epping Road Upgrade and Wollert Secondary College,” he said.
“The initiative will encourage growth of our valuable native bee populations while providing the college students with lifelong knowledge of the bees’ importance and how to help them thrive.”
