Bee City USA put on their first annual Pollinator Palooza Festival at the Carson Mall. The festivities included honey tasting, pollinator plant sales, and a curator corner.
The event served as a way to inform the community about the crucial role butterflies and bumble bees serve in our ecosystem as pollinators.
"One out of every three bites of food that we eat is made possible because of a pollinator," Kelly Clark, the Chair of Bee City USA #76, said, "and both bumblebees and butterflies are threatened in our environment."
Bee City USA aims to tell the public why pollinators are so important and how the community can support them. With the help of the Nevada State Museum, Bee City hosted educational presentations on the wonders of pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and even bats. These pollinators are threatened across the nation due to habitat loss, overuse of pesticides, and climate change.
But there are ways you can keep pollinators active in your community.
"The best thing that you can do is plant pollinator friendly species and especially native, pollinator friendly species are great," Lyndsey Boyer, the Open Space Manager for Carson City Parks, Recreation, and Open Space, said. "They're best for our native bees, our native butterflies."
Boyer says these plants can create small habitats throughout the city. You can also support the bee population by using less pesticides and leaving the leaves on the ground in the fall.
