DIGGING IT


For more information about Bee City USA and to read the annual reports describing all the great pollinator conservation projects being done in cities and on cam- puses around the country, go to www.beecityusa.org


Bee City USA merged with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation www.xerces.org to strengthen their urban pollinator  reach of the Bee City initiative to more cities and campuses around the country.





allows the observers to watch a millipede crawl around on its hundred legs or a caterpillar munch away on a juicy green leaf.


“I’ve always enjoyed working with kids,” Bailey said. She


wants them to go outside and mingle with the bugs. “They  


Importance of Pollinator Conservation Creating pollinator gardens and putting on events that


        the equation. The real work is in teaching both children and adults why we need to provide the necessary habitat, why pollinator conservation matters. “People are starting to get it,” Lydon says. “They’re get-


ting over their fear of bees. They’re realizing that 70% of our food comes from bees. It was uphill two years ago when we started, but now people realize we have to save the bees.” To reach new people sometimes means putting yourself


in an awkward, but visible place. Helfrich from Decatur par- ticipates in festivals or events in the community that have zero focus on pollinators. “It may not be where people ex-             


are not familiar with pollinators.” For last year’s Mardi Gras  skep. With help from members of Agnes Scott College’s Bee      lanterns on sticks. Some of the volunteers donned bee costumes and


    bee-friendly practices residents can implement in their own backyard. “It was an opportunity to inform a captive audi- ence.” The goal of Bee City is “to connect people with nature”


Bailey says, “especially in an urban setting.” She loves help- ing others recognize the beauty. “People realize nature is every- where and we’re a part of it.”


Greta Burroughs has worked as a free- lance writer since 2005. You can usually find her typing madly away at her home in South Carolina, where she resides with her husband and two dogs.


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© Kim Bailey


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