IT'S POLLINATOR WEEK!!

It's here! It's here!
Pollinator week!
So much to do, so much to say.

First of all, of course-- what better time to show your support of pollinators by sending in your application and helping to BEE a part of getting these plates onto Virginia roads!

Do it!
Do it!
Peer pressure! You know you wanna!

Yesterday I attended the Pollinator Partnership's "Pollinator Week Briefing and Break" in DC (and hellooooooooooo Haagen Daaz coffee ice cream!) and learned about their S.H.A.R.E. campaign for the environment! The acronym stands for "Simply Have Areas Reserved for the Environment." What could be simpler than that? A section of your garden, a corner of your lawn, a few potted native plants on your patio- easy, peasy! You can learn more about the program here- and if you've already got a pollinator/bird/wildlife garden, don't forget to click the "register" button and register your landscape spot, so you can monitor and report what you're seeing!

http://www.pollinator.org/SHARE_involve.htm

Speaking of monitoring habitats, have you seen the Native Buzz site from the University of Florida?
http://www.ufnativebuzz.com/

They're asking anyone who has a bee house/nest site to come on over to their page and register your location. Then as you see different bees and wasps emerging, send them a report on your habitat. The honey bee population is pretty well monitored since beekeepers have to put a whole lot of work into their bees! But the native and solitary bee populations are a little harder to keep up with- so reporting your bees and wasps to the Native Buzz project will help scientists with information on native bee populations. Buzz on over!

What's that? You don't have a bee house? Well, I know just the place where you can get an exhaustively researched and meticulously designed home for li'l native bees! Check out
http://ournativebees.com/store/
and you can even order extra refill tubes for when you're so lucky that your whole bee house *actually fills up with bees*! Bees to the brim! The website (and newsletter, if you sign up!) will tell you all about how to take care of your bee-babies and she even has a YouTube channel which makes it look fascinating, yet also very easy to do! :)
(It's hard to find things in life that are both easy and rewarding, no?)

These are just a few things you can do to help out the pollinators; I hope it's useful in helping you find ways to participate in Pollinator Week!