CHILDREN are being recruited to save the bumblebee from the threat of extinction.
Summer holiday activities for youngsters are being given a dual purpose across Middlesbrough.
As well as providing outdoor fun, there is a serious message to the play being organised by conservation workers.
Bug hunts, crafts, games, jokes, songs and stories inspired by busy bees will be staged to highlight the plight of the bumblebee.
Children are being taught how to make hibernation boxes for bees and other insects and there are take home packs containing advice on what plants to grow to encourage bees and butterflies into the garden.
To emphasise the message, Middlesbrough wildspace officer Sue Antrobus is appearing at countryside centres, allotments and nature reserves dressed in the costume of Belinda Bumblebee.
Bee theme activities start at the Lingfield Countryside Centre, Coulby Newham, at 10am on Saturday, when booking is required.
Others, next week, are at Stainton Quarry Local Nature Reserve on Tuesday, Linthorpe Cemetery, (Nursery Lane entrance) on Wednesday, both from 10am to 1pm, and Berwick Hills Allotments Local Nature Reserve, off Bradhope Road, on Friday, from 10am to 12.30pm.
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