Bumblebee Art Competition Winners Announced

And we launched three new prize categories! 

 More than 1500 children in the Bailiwick will have their artwork displayed in an exhibition this summer as part of an education initiative run by the Pollinator Project about bumblebees.  

The art project, which is supported by Mourant for the third time, focuses on the 6 insects in the Bombus genus – bumblebees – and is on display from 6 July to 2 August in the entrance hallway, stairs and landings at the Guille-Alles Library in St Peter Port, Guernsey.   

The exhibition is the culmination of the 2024 Pollinator Project schools’ campaign and follows on from talks to over 4500 Bailiwick primary school children about the wonders of bumblebees. They all received a take-home bee identification leaflet and were invited to create their own Bumblebee from an activity sheet, designed in conjunction with Guernsey Arts.   The annual award-winning campaign reaches 21 primary schools across the Bailiwick, plus pre-schools and home-schooled children.  

Sharon Hickman, Pollinator Project education lead said: “The Pollinator Project bee competition had so many brilliantly bright and realistic bumblebees created by talented local children, and we have put all these on display at the Guille-Alles library for everyone to enjoy. It’s great to see that so many children have understood the importance of our bumblebees. We started this initiative 6 years ago and to have a record number of entries proves how popular this competition is with pupils, parents and teachers alike.  

Sharon continued: “There are so many amazing bee artworks on display at the Guille-Alles Library over the next few weeks. There are many inventive entries, covered with seeds and natural materials, painted, collaged or even sewn or crocheted. The attention to detail of how the different bees look is a joy to see. Come and see if you can spot your child’s artwork and have some fun taking a photo in our selfie bee and flower photo frame – and maybe get a nature book out at the same time. It’s all free and it’s a real spectacle.” 

Competition winners 

Three children have won a prize for their school, either £500, £250 or £100 worth of vouchers for GROW Ltd so that they can create or expand their own pollinator patch. These three children will also receive individual prizes – a personalised t-shirt of their bee design, a framed copy of their artwork, and a voucher for the environmental website NHBS.   

The competition judge was Helen Wyatt, Partner at Mourant, who said: “I was blown away by the overall standard of entries. Winner Samuel Bouwen Smith’s entry stood out particularly due to the accuracy and the highly proficient pencil shading of a Common Carder Bee. Samuel is 9 and attends Castel School.  

“The second prize was won by Sibbie, age 7, from Forest School, who entered a flower-filled conservation garden image on her bee, with the message ‘Save our bees’.  

“Iyal Nishanth, age 4, of Amherst School, won third prize as I loved the use of colour and texture within a collage of poppy seeds, rice for wings, yellow split peas and red lentils. 

“Congratulations to the winners and to all the children who took part – it was a very tough job judging the entries as everyone had done a fantastic job with their bees.”  

Three extra prizes were awarded this year, with Emilie Prigent (aged 10) from Le Rondin school winning the Special Education Needs Prize for her Buff-tailed Bumblebee in mixed media with incredible attention to detail with fabric wings and a textured bee abdomen.  

Another new category for pre-schools has been added too – as more and more pre-schools focus on nature and want to get involved in the competition. So, Reuben Attwool, age 4, from Little Bears Nature Pre-School won the Pre-school Prize for his representation of an Early Bumblebee as a collage of paint, wood, lentils and seaweed.  

The Barry Wells Prize has been created by the family of the Pollinator Project’s co-founder and President in honour of his work for the charity and his award-winning wildlife photography. The prize of a pair of binoculars and a nature-spotting book was awarded to a nature-inspired creation by Evie Ogier, age 8, from Castel School.   

Children encourage adults to participate in conservation 

The next step in the annual campaign is about conservation – feeding local bumblebees. Every child that submitted their art for the competition has been provided a packet of pesticide-free seeds to sow their own ‘pollinator-friendly flower mix’ in their garden or planter at home this summer. The aim is to encourage children and their families to increase the habitat and food source for more local beneficial insects. Children can also watch the plants grow into food sources for the insects they learn about in school. 

Sharon explains: “Our sponsor Mourant supported this awareness campaign by funding the design and print of the identification guides, classroom posters and most importantly purchased the pollinator-friendly seeds we give to each competition entrant. That’s 1,500 new pollinator patches being created this year which will feed many, many bumblebees (and other pollinating insects) in the Bailiwick. We hope families will enjoy seeing their flowers bloom and be able to identify the six different species of bumblebee that visit them.”  

 

Chouet’s Orange-legged furrow bees could be at risk

Barry Wells - Pollinator Project co-founder

Bee species that are rare in Guernsey could be at risk if quarrying starts at Chouet headland.

Our founder and local bee expert Barry Wells said: ‘While modern quarrying does factor in environmental concerns and a bit of off-setting measures, if quarrying at Chouet goes ahead, there’s still a risk of losing important pollinating insects including rare bees that are probably only found on this headland,’ he said.

The Pollinator Project is concerned for the viability of two bee populations at Chouet headland should plans progress to begin quarrying there.

The bee species found on the headland include the Potter flower bee (anthophora retusa), which is now extremely rare in the UK, but widespread at Chouet, and the orange-legged furrow bee (lasioglossum xanthopus), which is very rare and declining in the UK.

The Environment & Infrastructure (E&I) committee has decided – by a majority – to recommend the establishment of a new quarry at the Vale headland, once the current quarry at Les Vardes has been exhausted, which is expected to be in 2023.

In its policy letter, the committee admits that the plan would result in ‘unavoidable localised ecological and environmental impacts’ but argues that this can be offset by measures elsewhere to enhance biodiversity. E&I president Lindsay De Sausmarez has said she would like to see off-setting measures – known as biodiversity net gain – being focused on the immediate area as far as possible.

Quarrying company Ronez has verbally committed to protect the perimeter of the site, along the public coastal footpaths – which may protect the bee habitats – unless they are disturbed by the rock blasting noise, dust and vibrations.

Mr Wells agrees: ‘I think that if we can preserve the habitat around the periphery of the headland, which should be possible, these insects will survive,’ he said. ‘But I am  concerned that the impact on pollinators may be difficult to mitigate if this precaution is not taken.’

‘Some people naively think bees will just move, but they live at that site because it’s best for them and if machinery destroys their nests, that may wipe out an already precious bee population,’ he said.

‘We need to protect those areas that are vital for wildlife’.

The Pollinator Project has also requested that the environmental impact assessment report covers invertebrates and takes into account the local knowledge of the sighting of these bees – not recorded anywhere else in Guernsey.

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