The Bee City Committee is working to create and maintain habitat, celebrate pollinators and educate residents about Chestermere being the second designated Bee City in Canada.
In March 2016, local beekeeper and advocate, Dr. Preston Pouteaux approached Chestermere officials about officially becoming a Bee City.
“Since then, the Committee and the city’s parks team have been working hard to help save the declining population of bees in our area,” said Bee City Committee Liaison and City of Chestermere Parks Coordinator, Alison Ciupa.
Bee City Canada’s mission is to inspire cities, towns, First Nations, schools, businesses, and organizations to take action to protect pollinators.
“By becoming a Bee City, Chestermere has committed to creating awareness of pollinator diversity and the benefits of using native plants in habitat restoration,” Ciupa said.
The Chestermere Bee City Committee has spent many summers attending local events and presenting at schools to help educate the public about how to help native bees and honeybees thrive in the community.
Bee City Committee education includes handing out information about how to build bee houses and hotels in yards and supplying residents with packages of flower seeds that provide a welcoming habitat and food source for bees.
“We are also trying to increase community awareness by promoting programs such as the Community Garden, the Birth Forest, and the East Lake School Bee Garden, and by adding pollinator habitats to our more than 70 parks and green spaces around the city,” Ciupa said.
The city’s parks team has shifted their focus from controlling weeds to maintaining healthy turf and shrub beds to reduce herbicide use, that may harm pollinators, and promote healthy bee populations.
To help fuel honeybees with healthy fats and proteins residents can add plants including flowering trees and shrubs such as raspberry, chokecherry, willow and snowberry, Alpine Azalea, Evening Primrose, Gaillardia, Geraniums, Honeysuckle, Lilac, Marigold, Prairie Buttercup, Prairie Coneflower, and Sunflowers to their yards.
“Between 75 per cent and 95 per cent of all flowering plants on the planet need pollinators to produce their seeds. Pollinators include bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, flies, beetles, and hummingbirds,” Ciupa said.
“Many pollinators are facing hard times in Canada and around the globe due to environmental stress stemming from pesticides and parasites, which affect not just the bees themselves but our entire food supply,” she said.
Adding, “About one in every three bites of food we eat is a result of pollination by animals, mainly bees. While all different types of wild bees pollinate our food, managed honeybees are the main pollinator of agricultural crops in Canada and around the world. Honeybees and wild bees both rely on nectar and pollen for healthy and productive populations.”
Volunteers of all ages can help to plan habitat creation projects, increase awareness and provide opportunities to educate residents about the importance of pollinators in an urban environment.
As COVID-19 restrictions have limited public events this year, the Bee City Committee has relied more on providing resources on the city’s website and social media for the community to research and learn more about how to support their local pollinators.
Seasonal trees, shrubs, and perennials suitable for pollinators can be found at, https://www.chestermere.ca/DocumentCenter/View/9801/Bee-Friendly-Plants-for-Chestermere?bidId=, and for more information on Bee City’s in Canada visit https://beecitycanada.org/.
Call the Chestermere Parks Department at (403) 207-2807 or email Alison Ciupa at aciupa@chestermere.ca to get involved.
