GARDENERS in Cumbria are being urged to do more to help protect bumblebees.

A Bee Creative in the Garden! campaign has been launched by The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and The Wildlife Trusts.

Bees are under increasing pressure largely due to loss of habitat. In the countryside, 97 per cent of lowland meadow has already been lost and the dramatic decrease in suitable habitats is not just confined to rural areas. The number of front gardens that have been paved over has tripled in a decade and over five million have no plants growing at all.

The charities will be arming gardeners with the advice, insights and inspiration they need to create habitats that support wild bees as they emerge from their nests in early spring to forage for food.

Gardeners will be able to download a wild bee-friendly gardening guide. Wildlife events and a ‘Bee Creative’ photo competition will also be taking place from April 1 to November 1 as bees buzz during the gardener’s growing season and then look for nesting sites in autumn.

Bee Creative in the Garden! is this year’s Wild About Gardens campaign – a joint initiative to encourage gardeners to create wildlife havens for the many, once-common, native species.

David Harpley, Conservation Manager at Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said: “Anyone can take action to help wild bees, whether you have a wall for vertical planting, window box, or back garden. It’s easy to plant a bee haven and fun choosing between bee-friendly beauties such as borage, foxglove and honeysuckle.”

The wild bee-friendly gardening guide, ‘Get your garden buzzing for bees’, is free to download and contains lots of facts about the different species of wild bee, their lifecycles and how they nest, as well as practical steps gardeners can take to help them. It is available to download at www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk - go to How You Can Help.

Gardeners, gardening groups and schools are encouraged to share how they have welcomed wild bees into their gardens by posting a picture on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram – using the hashtag #wildaboutgardens and the category being entered – of their bee-friendly area, whether that be a tailor-made bee home, a flower-packed border or a wall that bees have made their own.

A list of the wildlife gardening events taking place around the country can be found at wildaboutgardensweek.org.uk– please note that more will be added as the season progresses.

The Bee Creative in the Garden! campaign will culminate in Wild About Gardens Week which will run from October 23-29. This will be a fun-filled week of special activities focused on how to help bees survive the winter ahead.