Rare bees are being given a helping hand to find the perfect home on a South Staffordshire nature reserve.

Volunteers are creating habitats for several declining species at Highgate Common, near Wombourne.

The heath is home to 140 kinds of bees and wasps, including the seldom-seen black mining bee, or andrena nigrospina. The country park is one of just three or four places in Britain where the large, totally black bee can be found. Now volunteers are busy building ‘bee beaches’.

These are stretches of ground that the insects tunnel into to make their nests, and are designed to encourage both the bee and other declining species to stay.

Enthusiasts are working with Staffordshire Wildlife Trust on the project.

Warden Jeff Sim said: “The wet summer has meant that some of the sandy habitats at Highgate Common have been lost, so it is really important that we recreate them. Many of the bee species on Highgate Common are regionally or even nationally scarce, so we need to do everything we can to conserve them.”

Among the volunteers are staff from Carillion, which is a corporate member of the charity and regularly helps out with conservation work.

“Making the bee beaches also has an added bonus,” said Mr Sim. “Scraping back vegetation to reveal the sand underneath will expose the heather-rich seedbank which will, over time, grow into swathes of wildlife-friendly heather.”

* For more on the charity, call Jeff on 01384 221798 or email j.sim@staffs-wildlife.org.uk