Bow Bells House, by St Paul’s, and Weil roof terrace in Fetter Lane both scored in the top 5 for rooftops providing good habitat for pollinators in the City of London in 2025.
Both rooftops were surveyed each month during late spring and summer for pollinators by ecologist Dr Konstantinos Tsiolis (pictured above) for charity Pollinating London Together.
The criteria and the score
- Plants for pollinators; Bow Bells House (4/5) Weil (3/5)
- Nesting for pollinators Bow Bells House (3/3) Weil (3/3)
- Use of pesticides Bow Bells House (3/3) Weil (3/3)
- Monitoring Bow Bells House (1/1) Weil (1/1)
- Pollinator species/groups found Bow Bells House (6/8) Weil (6/8)
- Final score Bow Bells House 8th floor roof planters 17/20 (pictured below)
and Weil Roof 8th floor terrace 16/20 (pictured below)
Bee species recorded:
Bow Bells House – 4 bumblebee and 4 solitary bee species recorded including Wool carder bees (Anthidium manicatum) pictured below on Lamb’s ear and tiny Green furrow bees (Lasioglossum morio)
Weil terrace – 2 bumblebee species and 4 solitary bees species recorder, including Common Yellow-face bee (Hylaeus communis) (pictured below on another roof) and Hairy Yellow-face bee (Hylaeus hyalinatus).
Although in the top 5 of 10 city rooftops surveyed, Dr Tsiolis notes:
“These scoring sheets can only make very basic comparisons between sites. Factors such as size, height, nearby habitat and diversity and abundance of nesting resources are not considered. This year, I am combining data from the last three seasons and conducting a more in-depth analysis.”
The full PLT 2025 report can be downloaded here