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Dunwoody is a Bee City
Dunwoody Joins the National Movement to Help Pollinators!
Dunwoody joined more than 80 cities across the country as part of the Bee City USA program, a nationwide initiative to encourage healthy, sustainable habitats for bees and other pollinators. Its designation as a Bee City was initiated by the city’s Sustainability Committee and approved by the city council in May 2019. Bee City USA is an initiative of the Xerces Society, which has started a movement across the USA to promote the conservation of bees and other pollinators.
“Bee City USA fosters ongoing dialogue in urban areas to raise awareness of the role pollinators play in our communities and what each of us can do to provide them with a healthy habitat. The Bee City USA program endorses a set of commitments, defined in a resolution, for creating sustainable habitats for pollinators, which are vital to feeding the planet.”
Ninety percent of wild plants and trees depend on pollinators for survival, and every third bite of food we eat is possible because of pollinators. However, pollinators are facing a variety of threats, and the honeybee population alone faced a 44% death rate last year.
Read the Dunwoody resolution here.
Laura Johnson (Co-Chair of BeeCityUSA-Dunwoody, beekeeper):
Nathan Sparks (Co-Chair of BeeCityUSA-Dunwoody, Sustainability Committee Member):
Amanda Corr, City of Dunwoody Arborist:
Bee a "Pollen-aider" and a good Bee Citizen
Support and Conserve pollinators where you live:
1. Create habitat Plant flowers, shrubs, and trees in your yard that bloom at different times of the year. Diverse, native plants support local pollinators best.
2. Don’t spray for mosquitos! Anything that kills mosquitos also kills butterflies, ladybugs, fireflies and bees. It does not matter if it is “organic.”
3. Make a house for native bees
4. Support your local beekeepers and buy local honey.
5. Keep the “Buzz” going by letting your friends and neighbors know that you are providing a pollinator garden, and encourage them to join the effort in their own yard! We are in the process of providing a way to take a Pollinator Pledge, and to post a sign to certify your garden/yard as a pollinator habitat.
6. Endorse Bee City Initiatives
7. Volunteer with us!
Click here to see some plants that pollinators love.
Learn more about pollinator gardens here
Print the Bee Dunwoody Pollinator Pledge below by clicking here. Email your pledge to letsbeedunwoody@gmail.com to learn more about Bee Dunwoody.
Dunwoody joins Bee City USA!
Read, take and print the Bee Dunwoody Pollinator Pledge by clicking here. Email your pledge to letsbeedunwoody@gmail.com to learn more about Bee Dunwoody.
Dunwoody's new Bee City USA signs were erected on May 20, 2020, also known as World Bee Day. "Bee Dunwoody" is a volunteer group co-chaired by Laura Johnson, a resident beekeeper, and Nathan Sparks, vice-chair of the Dunwoody Sustainability Committee. They are shown in the photo above with Michael Cowan, director of the Dunwoody Nature Center "Pollinators help vegetables, flowers and shrubs grow, many of which were planted during the quarantine. So by supporting pollinators, we increase Dunwoody's food harvest and its beauty," said Sparks.
A few good books:
Plants Honey Bees Use by Shannon Trimboli
Honeybee Democracy by Thomas Seeley
Buzz About Bees by Jürgen Tautz
