SWANNANOA, N.C. (828newsNOW) —
An event planned for this weekend aims to get Western North Carolina buzzing.
The Pollinator Day Celebration is set for noon to 6 p.m. Saturday at Kittredge Theater on the campus of Warren Wilson College. “The Bee’s Needs: Understanding and Supporting Pollinators” is co-sponsored by Warren Wilson College and Bee City USA – Asheville.
“The college is one of the first pollinator colleges in the area. We actively plant to attract pollinators,” Warren Wilson Director of Events Liz Brace said, making the campus the perfect place for such an event.
“Eight years ago, the UN said that 40 percent of the world’s insect pollinators are at risk of extinction. That’s profound when you realize that 90 percent of the world’s wild flowering plant species and 75 percent of the world’s crops rely on them for reproduction,” Bee City USA Founder/Director Emerita Phyllis Stiles said. “Pollinators are essential to sustaining the world’s food web.”
Vendors and exhibitors will have a bee-load of honey and other bee-related products for sale. Native plants will also be for sale.
Speakers for the afternoon include:
Noon to 12:45 p.m. – You’re Saving the Wrong Bees: Impacts of Honeybees and Why it Matters
Amy Boyd, Ph.D., Professor of Biology – Warren Wilson College
1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. – Integrating Pollination and Pest Management in Working Landscapes
Dr. Joshua Arnold, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Agriculture – Warren Wilson College
2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. – Melipona Stingless Tropical Bee Project
Rebecca Robertson, Director, Mayan Melipona Bee Sanctuary Project
3 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. – Buncombe County K-12 School Pollinator Conservation Program
Bryan Tompkins, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. – Keynote: Bees & Other Pollinators: Why They Are Essential to Flowers, Wildlife and Us
Dr. Stephen Buchmann, adjunct professor in the departments of Entomology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona
“While each of our events throughout our Pollination Celebration month seek to mobilize individuals to action to conserve pollinators and the biodiversity those pollinators support, the summit brings one of the leading voices into the conversation with a lifetime of experience in conducting leading research — Dr. Stephen Buchmann,” said Styles, who is chair of local affiliate Bee City USA – Asheville.
“The summit also includes four ‘warm-up’ speakers on agricultural pest management with pollinators in mind, distinguishing honeybees from pollinator conservation, a project in Mexico to save the Mayans’ tropical, stingless honeybee, and an ambitious effort to teach Buncombe County School students about how they can help pollinators and why.”
Bee City’s mission is “Galvanizing the greater Asheville area to sustain pollinators by increasing the abundance of native plants, providing nest sites, and reducing the use of pesticides,” according to its website.