THE British honeybee has had a helping hand from children at a Vale school after they joined forces with home builder David Wilson Homes Mercia to put in bee friendly plants.

Honeybourne First School Academy planted the bee friendly flowers at the Abacot Fields housing development and also received a bee hotel and stickers from David Wilson Homes and a packet of seeds for them to put in the school's garden.

And a local bee keeper paid the children a visit to demonstrate how to look after the pollinating creatures.

Dean Ryan, year three teacher at the school, said: "This was a great opportunity for the children to learn something new and important. They really enjoyed listening to the beekeeper and had a chance to use some exciting equipment."

The donation is part of a project run by David Wilson Homes Mercia alongside the British Beekeepers’ Association. The home builder has pledged to plant a range of bee friendly flowers and shrubs in the gardens of all its sales office and show homes as the small creature is under threat from loss of habitat, weather and disease.

Jane Moseley, operations director at the British Beekeepers’ Association, said: "Unfortunately honey bees are rare in the wild due to the threats of disease and lack of forage diversity. We don’t all have to be beekeepers to become keepers of bees. By providing plants that are in bloom from February right through to October, we are providing plentiful sources of pollen and nectar for honey bees and other pollinators."