Pollinator-Plus Festival

Celebrate Pollinators with friends & family @ Beacon Food Forest with Washington Native Bee Society

All activities are Free

Washington Native Bee Society aims to create a community for bee enthusiasts of all levels of interest from the merely curious to the scientist or researcher. This event will allow Washington bee enthusiasts (and other interested parties) to gather information about the native bees of Washington State and learn ways to support or “save” the bees. The target audience includes individuals engaged in environmental issues, individuals focused on species diversity, and people who are looking for information about native bees. The learner needs little to no prior knowledge of bees to participate in this event as it will be geared toward the novice.

General Overview of Activities

10:00-10:45 am How to Spot a Pollinator (Colleen)

11:30-12:14 pm Diversity in the food forest and native bees and other pollinators

1:00-1:45 pm Providing for and protecting our pollinators

2:30- 3:15 pm An In Depth look at Bee Characteristics/ taxonomy (Lisa)

Learning Activities include understanding and the ability to:

• Differentiate between native bees, honeybees, and other look-alikes (wasps, flies, ants, etc…)
• Recognize and name 5 of the most common native bees in WA State.
• Understand the connection between native plants and native bees.
• Comprehend the value of biodiversity and how to conserve it.
• How to build insect models from various material (e.g. felt, twine, socks, flowers, twigs, leaves)

Colleen Willson: Colleen is an environmental educator and co-founder and vice-president of the Washington Native Bee Society and has been working with bee-focused community organizations since 2018.

Lisa Robinson: Lisa joined the PNW Bumble Bee Atlas project in 2017 and took “Bumble bee Biodiversity, Ecology, and Identification Course” with Lincoln Best. She continues to take Bee ID courses and became the first out-of-state Master Melittologist in 2020 where she has since earned her apprentice certificate.

Nita Wester: Nita is a K-12 alternative school veteran, Master Gardener, Growing Groceries instructor and frequent speaker in Jefferson County. She focusses on vegetable gardening, pollinators, creating habitat for beneficial insects and hands-on learning activites to encourage community participation.

Tony Dickey: Tony first volunteered at BFF in 2018. He has become a core volunteer on Education, Site Development and Community Care committees. He launched Pollinator-Plus in 2022 to ensure the food forest provides ideal habitat for pollinators of all kinds. Ne brings a permaculture to the world pollinator stewardship. A major part of that effort focuses encouraging a life-long appreciation of pollinators for all ages, younger generations in particular.

Host or Publisher Beacon Food Forest - Food Forest Collective