Greenbelt Celebrates Bees, Butterflies on Pollinator Day
On May 18, Greenbelt celebrates honey bees, butterflies, and other pollinators important to our flowers and food supply at the annual Family Pollinator Day at the Cox Reservation in Essex.
There is much to learn about these hard-working pollinators. With kid-friendly activities, attendees will learn about the many fruits, vegetables, and foods they help bring us, including chocolate and coffee.
For the younger members of the family, there will be honey tasting straight from the comb, a scavenger hunt and opening of Greenbelt’s honey bee hive (with a screened tent to watch from!).
Without bees, there would be no pollination, and the fruits and vegetables we depend on to survive could disappear. The kid-friendly events will be followed by a talk for grown-ups about "Pollinator-friendly Pest Control for the Residential Garden.”
What will happen to bee populations in the long run, if we continue to stress them with pesticides?
The presentation by the Essex County Beekeepers' Association, now celebrating its 96th year, will discuss the safe ways to control pests in your garden without harming the native pollinators so important to our local ecosystems.
Did you know that bumblebees learn to visit flowers that reward them with nectar and pollen, and they provide flowers with pollination services in return?
A new smartphone-accessed website can guide you through an easy sequence of steps to identify the bumblebee species in your backyard. As a “citizen scientist” you can also help map bumblebee species throughout New England and the flowers they like.
Pollinator Day events start with kid-friendly activities at 10am. The lecture on “Pollinator-friendly Pest Control” begins at 1pm.