An example of one of our bee hotels, by the Hastings building

One of only 26 winners across the UK, the University of Sussex has won the prestigious Bees’ Needs Champion Award for the fifth year running, recognising the University’s dedication to supporting pollinating insects on campus.

The Bees’ Needs Champion Award is presented by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and acknowledges exceptional efforts to helping local bee populations as part of grounds management, such as planting wildflowers and considering pollinators in overall grounds management strategy.

A diverse range of invertebrates have been documented on our campus this year, including 82 species of bee. We have also seen a marked increase of bee activity across the campus and have increased hive capacity.

What we've done to support our bees

Over the past few years, the University Sustainability team has worked with Sussex Estates and Facilities (SEF) and the Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI) to undertake a range of projects and improvements to help out our bees and other insects, including:

• Scattered wildflower seeding into our grassland areas to encourage wildflower growth
• Developing additional educational lecterns across campus
• Using native pollinator species in planting schemes
• Reducing mowing and maintenance in selected non-intrusive areas

Bee hotels have been installed across the campus to support solitary bees, as part of a programme to support student and staff led biodiversity projects, in addition to beehives on the eastern and southern edges of campus.

SEF groundskeepers have increased our naturalised areas again this year by incorporating the West and East Slopes naturalised banks within our re-wilding projects, including the Love Your Scrub project, which has also reduced powered equipment use and our carbon footprint.

Sussex volunteers additionally installed a variety of pollinator-friendly habitats across Brighton this year, plus newly designed ‘beginner pollination guides’ and information signs.

Find out more about how we’re developing Sussex to be the most biodiverse campus in the UK.