A flower seed vending machine to help save wild bees has been invented by a pair of schoolgirl sisters in Germany.

Louisa Boucheloukh, nine, and her 13-year-old sister Zohra raised EUR 600 (GBP 530) to build the prototype at their home in Hanover, Lower Saxony.

Now the machines are being rolled out at libraries across the city, according to local media.

Customers are able to buy EUR 0.5 (GBP 0.4) bags containing seeds of flowers popular with wild bees to plant in their gardens.

The term wild bees describes solitary bees such as carpenter bees and mason bees. These species do not produce beeswax or honey.

However, they play a crucial role in ensuring healthy and balanced biodiversity by pollinating a wide range of plants and flowers.

The flower seeds box is just the latest in a series of environmentalist concepts the sisters have developed.

Louisa and Zohra – who have around 1,000 followers on Instagram – have managed to spark other children’s enthusiasm for the subject but also met local politicians to underline the urgency of their cause.

Their relentless campaigning won them the 2022 Youth Nature Protection Prize, an award conceived by the Lower Saxon branch of NABU, an environmentalist association.

After accepting the award, the siblings wrote on Instagram: “We’ve got many more great ideas. Thanks to anyone who has supported us!”

Louisa and Zohra also featured in this year’s edition of the KIKA Award, a ceremony hosted by children’s programme broadcaster KIKA.

The duo’s initiatives have enjoyed coverage by various local media.

The sisters – who presented their own ‘Bee Saver Sisters’ t-shirts earlier this year – point out: “If there were no bees, no humans would be around anymore!”