Pollinators' Paradise

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Pollinators' Paradise Updates (2012/2013)

Applications Open!

Attention all nature seekers! Do you love being outside and learning about wildlife? Do you care that 30% of wild and honeybees have disappeared in Canada?

Apply to be a Citizen Scientist and get trained to identify native bee species and collect data. This will help the EYA to create habitat that benefits native bees in the future. It’s a great opportunity to be involved in your community, gain experience in hands-on environmental work, have fun working with others, and contribute to science!

Citizen scientists will meet every second Wednesday 10-1pm from June 5^th – Aug 21^st to participate in learning activities throughout Vancouver. You will need to have access to a camera of some type to take pictures of bees and flowers in your site. All other supplies will be given during training.

Training Date (MANDATORY ATTENDANCE):

Bee ID and Survey process

Saturday May 25^th , AND Sunday May 26^th

Both days 10-3pm

To apply please send a letter of interest by May 12th, 2013 to erin@eya.ca

Help Plant a Pollinator Garden!

join EYA at Oak Meadows Park to help install a pollinator garden to provide more habitat for bees by installing hundreds of native plants. Be the first to kick start the Nectar Trail Project at this premier event!

Friday, May 17th

Oak Meadows Park (Entrance is between Oak & Willow on 37th Ave - Across from Van Dusen)

2-4pm

Bring a hat and gardening clothes! For more info contact erin@eya.ca

Planning for Pollinators Project

EYA's new bee video helped us become BC Hydro Community Champions!

Check out EYA's bee resources list to find info on:

Bee Swarms

Managing Mason Bees

A Guide to Bee Gardening

Bee Plant List

Native and honeybees have declined by 30% in Canada. Bees are keystone species to indicate the health of our natural areas, and we need to play a part in making our cities pollinator-friendly places to be. As the most effective pollinators, native bees are important not only to biodiversity, but they play a critical role in performing pollination; a service which contributes to food for other wildlife such as birds as well as Vancouver’s local food production.

This summer the EYA was buzzing with bee projects around Vancouver. We established 6 bee gardens in urban areas to support bee habitat and our team of citizen scientists hit the streets exploring the types of bumbling neighbours we have right here in the city. We observed over 20 species and collected 200 specimens. EYA hosted community talks to discuss the importance of bee-friendly gardening practices, and is now gearing up for our newest project The Nectar Trail.

The Nectar Trail

The Nectar Trail is a project to build corridors of bee-friendly gardens with already great biodiversity hotspots in Vancouver. What a wonderful coincidence that flowers are the food for bees! By planting gardens with community partners and within urban green spaces , we will be linking a network of bee biodiversity and increasing accessibility to habitat for them. Our hotspot community is in the Oak Meadows and Van Dusen Gardens neighbourhood. We can promote planning our urban spaces to be more bee-friendly in Vancouver and our gardens, natural areas, and parks will all benefit!

Can you spot the bee?

If you want to get involved contact Erin at erin@eya.ca and we would love to hear how you can help!

We gratefully acknowledge the following sponsors as of June, 2012:

Pollinator Partnership

We are excited about our new pollinator partnership with Joe Wasp, a local company that specializes in the removal of honeybee nests, honeybee swarms, bumblebee nests, and wasp nests, offering an earth friendly alternative to pest control. Joe will be providing bumblebee colonies for our pollinator initiatives, installing pollinator habitat on local farms, parks, and golf courses.

Past Pollinator Conservation Programs

Pollinators' Paradise (2010-2012)

The Environmental Youth Alliance’s Pollinators' Paradise project that has taken place in the past year has been an overwhelming success. With funding from, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and Vancity, EYA was able to facilitate a very comprehensive community pollinator engagement campaign.

1) Growing beekeepers

We held our annual beekeeping course for eight youth to learn the art and science of sustainable hive management. The program began in earnest in May with our mentors Sheilagh Mckenna and Brian Campbell teaching the youth (all women!) the core fundamentals of bee biology, life cycle, and pollination. The group had the opportunity to interact with the hives on a bi-monthly basis and gain valuable experience in sustainable hive management. In August, a shared community event with some local artists brought attention to the bees and the program. By the end of the four-month program, each of them gained the skill and confidence to be able to manage their own hives in the future.

2) Growing Bee-Friendly Farmers

We were fortunate to be able to partner with 9 local farms to help them establish native bee habitat on their properties. Habitat structures were built by high school students from Vantech and Britannia Secondary and the farmers were provided with mason bee cocoons to ‘seed’ their new condos. EYA then provided support and monitoring, helping the farmers improve their knowledge and farming practices to better support these crucial insects.

View Growing Bee-Friendly Farmers by EYA in a larger map

Park Pollinators' Paradise (2007-2009)

The Park Pollinators’ Paradise program, was an attempt to increase and enhance pollinator habitat across the City of Vancouver through the development of a volunteer mason bee stewardship program to establish bee shelters and associated foraging enhancement in public areas spanning the entire city - local parks, community gardens, engineering right of ways, streets, boulevards and private property. Public awareness and education was paramount to the success of the project, drawing attention to the essential ecological service native pollinators provide and the need for their conservation amid a decline of native pollinator populations across North America. Our larger vision is to see healthy, thriving, pollinator populations and to generate a respect and admiration for a group of insects that are so essential and deeply connected to our ecosystem, our economy, and our culture

We chose to focus our attention on the Blue Orchard Mason Bee (Osmia lignaria), a native bee species that can be used effectively in educational campaigns on this issue. They are non-aggressive, propagate easily and are extremely effective pollinators, particularly of fruit-bearing plants. Funded by Environment Canada's EcoAction Program, the initial phase had 100 volunteer 'bee stewards' establishing 100 mason bee 'condos' and relevant garden plantings primarily on private land, across the City of Vancouver. With the incredible interest in the project, we were unable to meet the demand and so sought funding to expand the project, focused on the public space element.

Our goal in the second phase was to spotlight public lands by establishing bee 'high rises' and associated habitat plantings (native plants and fruit trees) in 50 neighbourhood parks, with 'super lodges' in 3 high profile Vancouver parks (Stanley Park, Everett Crowley, and Jericho). Partnering with the Vancouver Park Board, this habitat was stewarded by volunteers participating in its Park Partners program, engaging the community in a hands-on activity that links issues of conservation, land use, and food. Signage adorns the sites, informing the public on the current dilemma facing pollinators and actions they can take to ameliorate the problem.

Through public lectures and media, Park Pollinators’ Paradise shared information with a large audience, encouraging the establishment of healthy pollinator populations on public and private land. A key message was that regardless of the size of the property, pollinator habitat can be created and enhanced, ensuring a diverse and fertile landscape.