Take a look at the ‘Bee Hotel’ at the recently opened Sainsbury’s in Northamptonshire

Sainsbury’s opened their only new supermarket in 2020 last Wednesday (November 25) on Wellington Road in Brackley.

The new supermarket boasts of an Argos Store inside, a six-pump petrol station on site, the creation of over 100 jobs and a range of sustainable measures to meet their ambitious target of being Net Zero by 2040.

However, there was one particular feature that stood out to customers - the introduction of a ‘Bee Hotel’.

Sainsbury’s Carbon, Utilities and Engineering Manager, David Merefield, said: “Bees are the unsung hero of the food chain, as most fresh produce rely on bees for pollination.

“Our Brackley Bee Hotel will help the declining population of the solitary bee whose job it is to pollinate flowers and often can’t find a suitable place to nest. Our Bee Hotel was custom designed and has been carefully constructed to give solitary bees the best possible nesting and safety over winter.”

Bees have lost much of their natural habitat in the past 60 years including 97 per cent of wildflower-rich meadows as a result of pesticides, intensive farming and climate change according to Friends Of The Earth UK. Building bee-friendly spaces can help to replace some of this lost habitat and enable the bee population to thrive.

Bees typically nest in hollow stems, earth banks or old beetle holes in dead wood. Therefore, the best way to construct a bee hotel is to use knot-free bamboo canes so they can burrow deep inside.

Throughout Spring and Summer, bees will hopefully visit this new ‘Bee Hotel’ in Brackley, build cells inside the canes and lay their eggs. They will then add pollen and nectar to feed the larvae and block the entrance to the canes with leaves, mud or other materials.

Mr Merefield continued: “We’re committed to operating our stores more sustainably and we’re delighted to help the bee population thrive and to protect the environment now and for future generations. We also have five bee hotels to gift to nearby local schools in the coming weeks and trust the children will enjoy giving bees a place to rest, recharge and lay eggs.”

Sainsbury’s is inviting customers to donate food and other essential products or cash in store and online from December 1 to December 14 as part of the supermarket’s ‘Brighten a Million Christmases’ initiative and will match every donation, doubling every customer’s contribution.

The store is open from 7am-10pm from Monday to Saturday and 10am-4pm on Sundays.