MORE than 80,000 bees have made a new home at Liverpool ONE.

Two urban apiaries have been installed on the roof above Barclays, overlooking Lord Street in the city centre, while two 'bug hotels' have appeared at Chavasse Park.

The new additions are part of Liverpool ONE's commitment to become 'greener.'

Each of the hives will be managed and maintained by horticultural experts Nurture and will house one queen and around 40,000 workers - with this number set to double in late September.

John Beavan, training manager at Nurture, said: “We were incredibly inspired by Liverpool ONE’s other green initiatives and it has been fantastic to see the team taking a number of practical measures to protect pollinators.

Wirral Globe:

"These include installing honeybees with their own green roofs, installing shelters for a wide range of pollinators, planting pollinator-friendly plants and ensuring that pruning timings are pollinator-friendly, too.

“One exciting aspect of this project is that many of the plants on the roof are also important food sources for birds and other wildlife as long as they are pollinated, meaning the new hives will have a great benefit for the local biodiversity.”

The bug hotels will play host to around 12 species of insects, with the new arrivals following Liverpool ONE's Green Flag Award for Chavasse Park.

Steven Connolly, estate director at Liverpool ONE, said: “We’re fully committed to playing our part in improving the city centre’s biodiversity and are extremely proud to have been awarded Green Flag Status for the seventh year running.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to have the beehives and bug hotels installed and hope they help sustain the area for generations to come, as well as cementing our position as a vibrant, fun place for visitors – human or otherwise!

“Bees have an important role to play in creating a thriving environment and we’re told that, within just a couple of hours of being installed, the bees were seen carrying different pollen colours back into the hive – so it sounds like they’ve already settled in to Liverpool ONE!"