4th Annual National Pollinator Week Celebration

Come join the Chatham County Center of North Carolina Cooperative Extension and the Chatham County Beekeepers’ Association for the fourth annual celebration of National Pollinator Week on Saturday, June 26, from 10:00 am til 2:00 pm on The Lawn at Chatham Mills in Pittsboro, NC. The purpose of National Pollinator Week is to teach pollinator-friendly practices and raise public awareness of the importance of the bees, beetles, butterflies, moths, flies, birds, and bats that are needed to produce 80 percent of our flowering plants and one third of our human food crops. The National Academy of Sciences has reported that there is direct evidence of the decline of some pollinator species in North America. And, recently, Colony Collapse Disorder of honey bees has alarmed the agricultural industry.

Bumble bee enjoying a Baptisia bloom - note the pollen baskets
on her hind legs, filled with orange Baptisia pollen!

We have a great program planned for folks of all ages at our local event here in Pittsboro.

Click here to see photos from the very popular 2009 celebration.

Program Schedule for Saturday, June 26

(Programs will be on The Lawn at Chatham Mills in front of Chatham Marketplace in Pittsboro)

10:00-10:30 am – Beekeeping Demo in Bee Cage – Jim Williams, Chatham County Beekeepers’ Association

10:30-11:00 am – Basics of Beekeeping – Judy Pick, Chatham County Beekeepers’ Association

11:00-11:30 am – Pollinator Garden Tour – Debbie Roos, North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Chatham County Center

11:30 am-12:00 pm – Beekeeping Demo in Bee Cage – Michael Almond, Chatham County Beekeepers’ Association

12:00-12:30 pm – Basics of Beekeeping – Jim Williams, Chatham County Beekeepers’ Association

12:30-1:00 pm – Beekeeping Demo in Bee Cage – Mort Matheny, Chatham County Beekeepers’ Association

1:00-1:30 pm – Pollinator Garden Tour – Debbie Roos, North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Chatham County Center

You can hear presentations about beekeeping – how to get started, equipment needs, management tips – from local beekeepers. Tour Cooperative Extension’s Pollinator Garden at Chatham Mills and learn how to attract and protect pollinators. From 10:00 am-2:00 pm, feel free to visit the display tables and talk with local beekeepers!! Watch expert beekeepers work an actual hive inside a bee cage (bees inside, participants outside!), see honey bees up close and personal, and get your burning beekeeping questions answered.

Visit our kids' tent with lots of activities for kids including pollinator story time, scavenger hunt, beeswax candle making, Chatham County pollinator coloring books, papermaking, and more! Watch “Bee TV” - park yourself in front of an observation hive and watch the worker bees attending the queen. It’s mesmerizing!

Meet our local Chatham County beekeepers and learn all about what it takes to produce the nutritious and delicious local honey available at Chatham Marketplace. We will have beekeeping equipment and products from the hive for “show and tell”.

Visit Chatham Marketplace to learn which products depend on bees for pollination (hint: look for the bee signs!).

Pick up some educational literature to further your knowledge about honey bees, beekeeping, pollinators, and pollinator conservation. Learn about the Chatham County Beekeepers’ Association and how you can get involved with this fabulously friendly group through monthly meetings and field days and even an email listserv – we welcome members of all skill levels: from never-tried-it (but always wanted to) to beginner to experienced!

Enjoy a pollinator-friendly local lunch at Chatham Marketplace during the program! (Did you know that worldwide, approximately 1,000 plants grown for food, beverages, spices, fiber, and medicine require pollination by animals?)

All Pollinator Week Events are free and open to the public. This event will be held rain or shine. Click here for directions.

This event is hosted by Chatham Marketplace.

For more information about pollinator conservation, visit Cooperative Extension’s Pollinator Conservation website at www.protectpollinators.org.

Visit the Chatham County Beekeepers’ Association website for more information about local beekeeping. For more information about this event, contact Debbie Roos at 919-542-8202.

This page last updated July 12, 2011.

URL: www.growingsmallfarms.org

North Carolina Cooperative Extension is an educational partnership helping people put research-based
knowledge to work for economic prosperity, environmental stewardship and an improved quality of life.