SCHOOLS in North Yorkshire are being given help to set up “bee-friendly habitats” to help reverse a fall in the UK’s bee numbers.

North Yorkshire County Council’s countryside services department has produced information packs giving pupils and teachers a guide to creating wildlife areas attractive to bees, including wildflower patches, hedges, berry-rich shrubs and mini-beast environments.

Ian Fielding, the council’s assistant director of waste and countryside services, said: “This project could not only make a significant impact on struggling groups like honey bees and bumble bees, but also help a much bigger range of animals and plants which are in decline.”