The Dawlish Bee-side Trail
workshops, actions, creativity - helping to save bees

Dawlish is buzzing follow our Bee-side trail to discover sculptures, bee attracting flowers, bee homes and honey!

Einstein predicted, 'If bees disappeared from Earth, man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.'

Britain has 254 species of native bees that play an essential role in pollinating flowers. Did you know we rely on bees to pollinate 1/3 of our food crops? Yet about 1/4 of bees in Britain are now endangered.

Threats to bees:
Loss of habitat, such as hedgerows means there are fewer wild flowers and suitable nesting sites.
The use of pesticides weakens bees' immune systems, and poisons them.
Parasitic Varroa mites have devastated honeybee populations and other bee colonies in the wild.
Climate Change-linked wet summers confines bees to their hives, enabling the spread of mites, bacteria, and disease.

Artist-led workshops by Lauren Ballard and Jenny Archer have taken place with children and adults at the Churchill Community Centre, Dawlish, supported by Teign Housing:

Creating large-scale sculptures of flowers seen 'through bees eyes', reveals how dramatically different the colours and markings on flowers are to insects that see in Ultra Violet (UV).

By acquiring new skills, the children initiated the creation of the 'biggest pompom' bee! Look out for it on Dawlish's Bee-side trail.

Each child planted seeds and has been growing their own bee friendly flowers to provide pollen and nectar for bees in the areas where they live.

Raspberry flowers
Found polythene, plastic bags, hub caps, second-use newspaper/textiles, bottle tops, CDs, reclaimed- wire, wire mesh, wood, plastic pipe, steel posts and nylon woven bags.

Pompom bumblebee
Second-use polythene bags, large bubble wrap, polystyrene, net fabric, reclaimed wire and paint.