Are you interested in local food? Or in food security? Or in preserving native birds and mammals? Then you will be interested in the attached information on a workshop on bees on Saturday, June 26, 2010 at 9:00 am.

You will build a native bee nesting box, identify native pollinators at work, and discover bee forage plants you can incorporate into your garden!

DID YOU KNOW…

• There has been a sudden and drastic disappearance of both commercial bee colonies and native pollinators globally and scientists are scrambling to find a cause and a solution.
• We have over 400 species of bumble bees, solitary native bees and others in BC whose populations are in serious decline as a result of habitat loss. Many nest in the soil, most don’t sting.
• The loss of pollinators will almost certainly reduce the availability of seeds and berries for native birds and mammals, and potentially produce a cascading impact on North American biodiversity.
• It is estimated that a third of everything we eat depends upon honeybee pollination, a service worth multi-billions to the global economy.

Loss of bee populations could threaten our food security.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Attend a workshop with bee expert Ted Leischner and learn to:

• Identify native pollinators at work in their local habitat

• Identify bee forage plants and integrate them permanently into your landscape, en-
  couraging native pollinators to make your yard their home
• Build a native bee nesting box (hands on, materials included). Participants will walk away
  with their finished project.

When: Saturday June 26th, 9:00am – 4:00pm
Where: House 10 (Horticulture Dept.)
Thompson Rivers University, with a field trip to nearby sites
Anyone interested in conservation of native wild bees
$49, limited class size, register early to avoid disappointment
Contact by email: tsmga.fog(at)gmail.com

Kamloops Master Gardeners and TRU Friends of the Garden thank you for your support!