Learn how you can BEE one in a MILLION

The 'Million Pollinator Garden Challenge' is a nationwide call to action looking to register 1 million gardens that are pollinator friendly. 

If you agree to the following, you too can BEE one in a MILLION:
1. Grow a variety of bee-friendly flowers that bloom from spring through fall.
2. Protect and provide bee nests and caterpillar host plants.
3. Avoid using pesticides, especially insecticides.
4. Talk to my neighbors about the importance of pollinators and their habitat.

Sign up here to be make the pledge and be included.

  June 15 - 21, 2015

Celebrate and Save our pollinators!

I bet you didn't know Indiana had this program!

In the late 90's, Indiana began an innovative program called 'Hoosier Roadside Heritage' but for some reason, hardly anyone knows about it.  The primary goal of the 'Hoosier Roadside Heritage Program'  is to promote and incorporate native plants and wildflowers into Indiana's roadside landscape.

This program helps pollinators by providing food for them in otherwise barren areas covering 25,000 acres of ground found along Indiana roadsides.  It also helps the Indiana State taxpayers because it reduces costs associated with mowing.  And, the seeds for this project are grown on state properties.  Department of Correction crews help to maintain these seed farms – allowing inmates to gain skills they can use to pursue a horticulture career.   How cool is this?

Beautiful - right?

Recently, I talked with William Fielding, the INDOT coordinator of this project.   He said that it is a very hard project to maintain because everyone complains.  They complain because the roadsides are not mowed.  But just look at those gloriosa daisies - why would you complain about that?

In celebration of National, State, and Local Pollinator Week, I am going to call you to action: 

1. I encourage you to click here to learn more about the project.  
2. Just don't stop there, send Mr. Fielding an email and tell him how much you appreciate this project. (Note:  You'll find Mr. Fielding's email at the bottom of page.)
3. Then, forward this blog post to 3 of your friends and ask them to thank Mr. Fielding for keeping this project going.

  June 15 - 21, 2015

Celebrate and Save our pollinators!

Why Care About Pollinators?

I care because I like to eat!

Three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce. More than 3,500 species of native bees help increase crop yields. Some scientists estimate that one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because of animal pollinators like bees, butterflies and moths, birds and bats, and beetles and other insects.

  June 15 - 21, 2015

Celebrate and Save our pollinators!

Do bees need air conditioners?

I get asked a lot about what the bees do during the cold months of winter, but hardly any one asks about the heat in the summer.  Maybe you haven't thought about it.  But, can you imagine living in your house with 50,000 other people during the dog days of summer without air conditioning?  I sure can't.

 

One thing they do to cool the hive is to create a 'swamp cooler' effect.   The nectar being retrieved from flowers can have a moisture content as high as 80%.  However, 'ripe' honey (what we eat) contains only 18% water.  In order to cure the nectar into honey, the bees use their wings to fan the liquid causing evaporation.  This in turn also cools the hive.  Cool? or Cool!

Indiana Joins in on National Pollinator Week

Eight years ago the U.S. Senate unanimously approved and designated a week in June as “National Pollinator Week”. This marked a necessary step toward addressing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations. Pollinator Week has now grown to be an international celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles. But, although the growing concern for pollinators has brought progress, but we must continue to maximize our effort to protect our pollinators.

Pollinating animals, including bees, birds, butterflies, bats, beetles and others, are vital to our delicate ecosystem. Therefore, Pollinator Week is a week to get the message of valuable pollinators out to as many people as possible and let them know pollinators positively affect all our lives. So let all be sure to use this time to SAVE and CELEBRATE these creatures critical to life on planet Earth!

The 2015 National Pollinator Week falls on June 15 – 21. Now, the state of Indiana is joining this celebration. Governor Mike Pence and First Lady Karen Pence have a bee hive at the governor’s mansion and are very supportive of the pollinators in our state. Knowing this, we asked the Governor to declare Indiana Pollinator Week during the same timeframe and he agreed. She recently received the certificate and proclamation from the Governor’s office and is excited to share it with fellow beekeepers.

To help celebrate honey bee pollinators, there will be a Summer Apiary Field Day hosted by Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana on Saturday, June 20, 2015. This event is a must attend for all beekeepers in the state and it is a great way to celebrate the culmination of Pollinator Week. Put it on your calendar. We hope to see you there.

Click Here for Purdue Field Day Agenda
Click Here for Purdue Field Day Registration
Click Here for Directions to the Purdue Bee Lab

http://pollinator.org