And the winner is……Abigail Harris!  Abigail has won the top prize of a beekeeping experience with this amazing floral mask.

Lucie Ancell was the runner up, winning a pollinator bee bomb with her extra feely-boppers and homemade wings:

Thank you to all of entrants of the Hey Honey/City Council Bee Competition. The photos really cheered me up. Such wonderful colours and creativity! Well done to all, Madam Mayor.

Hereford City Council, Tourist Information Centre and Hey, Honey! have all teamed up to highlight World Bee Day on 20th May 2020. Download a printable mask and read on for details of how to enter this bee-themed competition, and to help your children understand the importance of bees.

Globally, species of bees are currently facing a 35% extinction.

If this trend continues, nutritious crops such as fruits, nuts and many vegetable crops will face being wiped out.

Intensive farming practices, land-use change, mono-cropping, pesticides and higher temperatures associated with climate change all pose problems for bee populations and, by extension, the quality of food we grow.

How can you help?

• planting a diverse set of native plants, which flower at different times of the year;
• buying unadulterated local honey;
• buying products from sustainable agricultural practices;
• avoiding pesticides, fungicides or herbicides in your gardens;
• protecting wild bee colonies when possible;
• sponsoring a hive;
• making a bee water fountain by leaving a water bowl with pebbles for them to climb on outside;
• helping sustaining forest & woodland ecosystems;
• raising awareness around us by sharing this information within our communities and networks; The decline of bees directly affects us all!

Click the Bee Mask below to view/print it!