THERE was a hive of activity at a Bournemouth school when two environmental projects were launched to celebrate international Earth Day.

Girls at Avonbourne College celebrated two new ventures that will make their school a greener place to be.

First up was the arrival of a new beehive, an eco money making venture from four Year 8 girls calling themselves the Nectar Sector.

And also unveiled on the same day was a new wild flower strip, the brainchild of two Year 11 girls who are members of the school’s eco group.

The six girls came together on Earth Day, the annual international event held to celebrate environmental projects, to officially launch their projects.

Executive head teacher Debbie Godfrey-Phaure, said: “What is so thrilling about both these projects is the girls came up with the ideas through their own initiative and passion for making the world a better place to live in.

“Thanks to their drive and hard work our college now has two excellent resources that we can share with our whole community for many years to come.”

Nectar Sector – Katie Butcher, Edlina Prior, Danielle Noke and Lucy Cox-O’Rourke – came up with their idea to buy a beehive to help sustain the UK bee population and make honey after entering the Young Enterprise Tenner competition, the UK search for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

They were each given a £10 loan to get the business up and running.

With that money they made bee and insect shaped keyrings to raise funds. The girls also received funding from the local Green Goals Community Fund.

They raised £2,164 to purchase the beehive, buy bee suits and pay for the annual management of the bees.

By next year they are hoping to sell honey, with proceeds going to the Farm Africa Project to help young people in Ethiopia become beekeepers.

And the bees will have plenty of nectar to hone in on thanks to the new wild flower strip now opened on the school grounds.

Eco group members Anna-Louise Graham and Maya Dixit came up with the idea for the wildflower strip as part of their bid to get silver Green Flag status for the school.

The special mix of British annual and perennial wildflowers will attract butterflies and moths and fruit trees will also be planted to help improve biodiversity within the area.

The six girls will find out later this year if their Tenner and Green Flag bids have been successful.