At De Vuursteen Child Center in Wapserveen, they really know what greening is. They already have a green schoolyard, but since Wednesday it will also be a good place for wild bees. Thanks to the Bijles project.
On Wednesday morning, deputy Henk Jumelet, alderman Henk Doeven, Erik de Gruijter (Landscape Management Drenthe) and Mathijs ter Bork (IVN Nature Education) opened the greening part of the Bijles project at De Vuursteen Child Center in Wapserveen.
After the theme of wild bees had already been treated in various ways at school, the students and teachers could start making their schoolyard bee-friendly. All students, big and small, rolled up their sleeves for the wild bee. And that help is badly needed, because many wild bee species are not doing well. More than half of the species that occur in the Netherlands are on the Red List.
Real bee paradise
KC De Vuursteen proves that an already green schoolyard can always be made even more biodiverse. There is no lack of plants, bushes and shrubs here, but various design measures were taken to transform the area around the school building into a real bee paradise.
What measures were needed at this school was investigated by the students of the upper years. Special research maps from IVN Nature Education gave students an idea of the different requirements that wild bees make of their environment. Deputy Henk Jumelet and alderman Henk Doeven bit the ball and planted a fruit tree together. Then the students were allowed to work on their own. After months of preparations, they were eager to ‘go wild’.
Additional spots
“Today I can finally make my own bee hill,” says one student enthusiastically. “I now know that there are many different bee species and that there are also species that live in the ground and lay their eggs there. I would like to help them find extra places to hibernate.” The students started under the supervision of Landscape Management Drenthe. In addition to building a bee hill, they also planted fruit trees, berry bushes and flower borders of crocuses. Quite an undertaking, but with the help of the approximately 100 students the job was done in no time.
Training teachers and masters
A few months ago, the nature teachers and masters of all schools in the municipality of Westerveld followed a training course from IVN Noord about wild bees. During this tutoring they received teaching materials to teach their students more about the life of wild bees. Besides food, bees also need shelter and suitable nesting places. If one of those three is missing, it is very difficult for bees to survive.
With the help of Landscape Management Drenthe, a design plan was drawn up. Since 2019, primary schools in two or three municipalities in Drenthe receive an annual invitation to participate in the Bijles educational project. This year the municipalities of Westerveld and Aa en Hunze were on the programme. Of the 15 participating schools, 11 of them actually tackled the schoolyard.
The Bijles project is a joint, multi-year project of IVN Regio Noord and Landscape Management Drenthe and is financed by the province of Drenthe and the Drenthe municipalities.