Shepley First School is intending to leave a sweet taste when it spends this year’s Wish money.

Val Hollingworth, who is responsible for dealing with Wish, said it was anxious to do its bit to “try to save the honey bee.”

She said the school has worked with the local Women’s Institute (WI) on the project.

The project is a natural one for the school as children are asked to imagine a world without honey bees.

There would be no delicious pears, luscious raspberries, or juicy strawberries.

Val said: “We have been working with the local community to enhance our outdoor learning area by planting trees.

“We would like the opportunity to develop the area further by clearing the brambles and nettles to make them safe for a woodland trail and a wildlife meadow area.

“We have worked with our local WI to try to save the honey bee.

“We are hoping to set up our own area with bee hives to produce our own honey.”

Honey bees play a vital role in the food chain and pollinate a whopping one third of the foods we eat.

But, alarmingly, over the last five years, this country has seen more than one third of our honey bee colonies nationwide disappear.

It is not entirely clear why this is happening. There is a mysterious phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), that occurs when honey bees simply desert their hive and die.

Researchers are unsure what triggers CCD, but they believe there may be many contributing factors, including viruses, mites, chemical exposure, and poor nutrition.

Schoolchildren are particularly interested in the fate of the honey bee because many of the ingredients used to make pure and simple ice creams, sorbets and frozen yoghurts start with the honey bee’s pollinating activities.

Honey bees work hard to pollinate hundreds of crops, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds so securing their future is essential.