The Bee Brick
AUDIO RECORDING OF TEXT
This is a Bee brick, it seems like a normal brick that can be used to build houses and other structures, but it has holes drilled through it to provide housing for solitary bees. These bees will find holes in grounds or woods to lay their eggs and build their nest. The bee brick was made to integrate these species into our environment and spaces. There is a lot of criticism of the use of the bee brick to paint over any other efforts to create a more biodiverse environment, the holes themselves are argued to not be deep enough for the comfort of a bee nest and if not cleaned these bricks may spread parasites and diseases amongst bees living inside. It can nevertheless provide some shelter for species and has been distributed widely for building, especially in Brighton. Although these bricks may be the home of some species it is important to consider the other practices that help the bees flourish, like meadows and diverse plant life.
