There is no planet B, but there is a ‘planet bee’

Cora Lombard is appealing for businesses to keep the cardboard inserts of their credit card and till machine rolls and donate them to her Air Bee n Bee campaign.

This campaign will see Ms Lombard transform used wooden wine crates into bee hotels for Gibraltar’s buzzing population.

“No bees, no food,” she said, on why she has started this initiative.

“They are really important and they have been declining in numbers for years now with all the pesticides and all the rubbish we put in the air with all the pollutants,” she added.

Her employer Lewis Stagnetto Ltd has allowed her to take as many of the wooden boxes as she requires.

“In collaboration with the Nautilus Project I am encouraging local businesses to move away from using single use plastic till rolls and to transition to sustainable cardboard alternatives,” she said.

“These can then be upcycled and used for much needed bee hotels. With spring around the corner we would like to appeal to the community to participate in this venture,” she added.

Teaming up with the Nautilus Project together they have managed to get some local businesses such as Eroski, Seruya, Lewis Stagnetto and various small businesses already donating the till and credit card roll inserts.

“We discovered that the inserts of these rolls are perfect and together with this wine boxes I can make a bee hotel,” she said.

Holding a wooden wine box said said she removes the lid fills it with the rolls, places the lid back on and makes a hole in the bottom so bees can get in.

“What happens is if a bee does not have a hive it is going to find a hole anywhere, where it can lay its eggs,” she said.
“But moisture and the rain is killing the eggs.”

“So we thought if we make something that is protected. I will varnish them [the boxes] and make them waterproof. They can lay their eggs safely and hopefully the bee population will increase,” she added.

She said bees will lay their eggs inside the rolls, place food, lay more eggs and place more food until the end of spring when the bees are grown and ready to fly.

“They are protected, they have a home where they can breed,” she said.

She is aiming for the Air Bee n Bees to be hung all over the Rock, in the Nature Reserve, on trees, in people’s garden, wherever there are bees or flora to pollinate.

She has been numbering each box and at the end of spring she will retrieve each one and reuse and recycle it for the next year.

Aside from the till or credit card machine inserts the public can also donate the cardboard inserts used for sewing thread and other items.

The hole cannot be any bigger than 1p in diameter and the roll has to be made of cardboard as cardboard breathes, explained Ms Lombard.

She is also looking for people who are willing to have an Air Bee n Bee on their balcony, patio or in their garden.

For more details contact Ms Lombard at 41 Main Street or on 54201000.