See You Soon in Lethbridge!!!!

 

Melissodes bimatris: A love story

 

Merritt and Vancouver Bound!

 Looking forward to meeting some wonderful beeple in Merritt on Saturday: https://tnrl.libcal.com/event/3930622

Special thanks to the library staff and the Nicola Naturalist's Club! 

 I'll be giving a talk at the library Saturday, Sept 6 at 11 am and then after the presentation we'll head to the local pollinator garden to to a walk through.  https://www.rotarymerritt.com/our-projects/pollinator-garden/

 

I'm also heading to City Farmer in Vancouver in October. I love that garden and the staff so much!

 

 

I'm heading to Word on the Street in Lethbridge!

Looking forward to seeing you in Lethbridge!

 

 

Bees, Butterflies and Botany: You're Invited to a Talk on Zoom on July 9, 2025

 

 

I'm excited to announce this talk on Zoom as the kick-off to a project funded by a BC Parks Spark Grant with essential support from the Native Bee Society of BC. I will provide you with the tools to be a citizen science hero that makes BC a healthy place for bees, butterflies and birds. By studying flowers that bees visit for food and nesting, we can learn more about the seasonal life cycles of the plants that supply nectar and pollen to our precious pollinators. The scientific name for this study is “phenology” (or what we like to call “fun-ology”).  We will have a handout you can print and the slides will be available for you to download after the talk.

 

And a special thanks to Jade Lee at the Natve Bee Society of BC for her lovely design work on all these posters. Jade is a talented master melittologist, photographer and designer! 

 

Schedule:

 

Bees, Butterflies and Botany: How you can help BC bees

 

All talks and walks are free and family friendly!

 

 

Talks: Join award-winning author and educator Lori Weidenhammer, aka Madame Beespeaker, as she gives you the tools to be a citizen science hero that makes BC a healthy place for bees, butterflies and birds. By studying flowers that bees visit for food and nesting, we can learn more about the seasonal life cycles of the plants that supply nectar and pollen to our precious pollinators. The scientific name for this study is “phenology” (or what we like to call “fun-ology”). Lori will supply you with handouts to help you recognize and record these beautiful flowers and make notes on where and when you saw them. It’s a fun way to spend time in nature and help make the world a better place for bees.

 

 

Walks: Join author and educator Lori Weidenhammer, aka Madame Beespeaker, as she leads a guided walk and shows you how to make observations on the life cycles of bees and plants and become a citizen science hero.

 

Please dress for the weather, rain or shine and bring your camera and/or cell phone.

 

 

Talk:  Clearwater Library: 209 Dutch Lake Road

 11am on Saturday, July 12

 

Walk: Wells Gray Provincial Park: 

Sunday, July 13 1-3 PM

Meeting place: Ray Farm/Alice Lake trailhead

 

Talk: Kamloops Public Library, 100 - 465 Victoria St

Monday July 14, 2 pm

 

Walk: Lac Du Bois Grasslands Protected Area 

 Tuesday, July 15, 1 pm

Meeting place: Park near the cattle guard at the entrance of Lac Dubois Grasslands Protected Area and we will carpool to the trail.

 

Walk Shuswap Lake PP Walk: July 17, 1 pm

Meeting place: the Nature House

 

Talk: Kootenay Family Place, Castlegar

 Friday Aug 8, 10 am

 

Walk: Syringa Provincial Park, 

Saturday Aug 9, 1 pm. 

Meet at the Butterfly Garden

 

Talk: Rock Creek Riverside Centre,

Friday Aug 15, 1 pm

 

Walk: Kettle River Recreation Area, 

Saturday Aug 16, 1 pm

Meeting place: tba

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bee Book Event at Wayside Select Books at Art in Osoyoos

 

Canadian Resources for Victory Gardens for Bees

 

 

I am about to do CBC interviews with weekend morning shows across Canada and I’ve put some links to here for extra information.

 

First of all, I would advise you to get yourself a good local wildflower/shrub/tree guide and support your local native plant nursery. Purchasing plants sold by a native nursery is a solid investment because of the expertise the growers have and because native plants will be less maintenance and more likely to thrive in your garden. Just ask the grower any questions you might have about the plants that would work for bees in your garden. This will help you use the plant charts in my book to help you plan your garden.

 

I also encourage you to join iNaturalist and start posting photos of the bees in your garden. It’s empowering and thrilling to get to know your local native bee species! I would encourage you to go to local parks with wild habitat and post the bees in the plants you see there. You can also use iNaturalist as a research tool to see the plants that bees are observed feeding on in your area.

 

Here are some resources for learning how to post bees on iNat:

 

How to make useful INaturalist observations

 

 Identification Etiquette on iNaturalist

 

Pollinator Partnership has some good gardening resources that are specific to regions within Canada. Check to see if they have a growing guide for your bioregion.

 

https://pollinatorpartnership.ca/en/find-your-roots

 

https://pollinatorpartnership.ca/en/ecoregional-planting-guides

 

This online tool can help you find a local native plant nursery near you. https://networkofnature.org/where-to-buy.htm/

 

Bee City Canada also has a tool for this: https://beecitycanada.org/native-plant-nurseries/

 

 A Trio of Alliums for Bees:

I will be talking about alliums for bees, and for western Canada, the nodding onion (Allium cernuum) is a fantastic native plant for bees. It’s beautiful and it’s edible too. For eastern Canada, you could plant the Canadian onion (Allium canadense). Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are great to put in your garden for bees. They are edible, of course, but I think they’re pretty enough to put in a perennial border and butterflies love them too. You might not know this, but chives are native to many areas in North America and Europe. I also recommend a bee-loved allium cultivar called ‘Millenium’ which is long-blooming and hardy. Putting a trio of alliums in your garden will really help your local pollinators. Be sure to include one square meter of each of these alliums if your spaces allows it. Even one pot of chives on your balcony can make a difference!

 

 Some other native plants that are must-haves in your garden are fireweed, native asters and goldenrod, which are essential late summer plants for bees.

 

 Companion Books for Victory Gardens for Bees:

 In Ontario and the Great Lakes Region, you’ll want to buy a copy of A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee: Creating Habitat for Native Pollinators: Ontario and Great Lakes Edition by Lorraine Johnson and Sheila Colla.

 

For the prairies, you’ll want to buy a copy of Native Plants for the Short Season Yard: Best Picks for the Chinook and Canadian Prairie Zones by Lyndon Penner