This is the sort of urban initiative that we all dream about but is actually being achieved in Norway. The Oslo Garden Society, working with the municipal government, individuals, schools and private companies, has created the world’s first bee highway – a network of feeding stations and shelter every 250 metres in a corridor across the city.

We all know the consequences of the decline of the bee population – in parts of China, farmers are resorting to pollinating plants by hand and in some parts of the US, bee hives are hired by food producers so that their crop can be pollinated. Some reports indicate that the US has lost 42% of its bee population. In Europe, one third of our wild bees are in serious decline. Intensive farming, use of insecticides, climate change are all cited as causes.

Urban areas can be like deserts for bees with few…