A group of people stand next to a green pollinator garden with purple and yellow flowers, a building with colorful decals is in the background.

Bee City USA Visits Michigan Bee Campuses

My favorite thing about my position with Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA is getting to see our affiliates’ projects firsthand. This September, I had the opportunity to visit 7 Bee Cities and Bee Campuses (and a few applicants!) in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. In-person visits give us a chance to learn about our affiliates’ pollinator habitat, pesticide reduction, and outreach accomplishments–and provide new tools and resources to help them accomplish their goals. We love supporting the creative, visionary work of our affiliates. I’d like to extend a warm thank you to all the staff, volunteers, students, elected officials, and community leaders who took the time to meet and share their work.

In this post, I share my visits to four of our Michigan Bee Campus USA affiliates: Michigan State University, Washtenaw Community College, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Michigan-Dearborn, and a bonus visit to Michigan State University-Detroit Extension Service’s Partnership for Food, Learning and Innovation (DPFLI). In my next post, I’ll share highlights from my visits with our Bee Cities: City of Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township, and Royal Oak.

Enjoy the tour!

Laura Rost
National Coordinator
Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA

Michigan State University

Small pink/purple flowers grow in bunches with tall green trees in the background.
A sea of flowers greeted me at the Michigan State University (MSU) Staff Research Garden. Credit: Laura Rost / Xerces Society
An outdoor sign with text, a QR code, and colorful photos of pollinators and flowers says "Please help with our pollinator research!"
MSU encourages visitors to participate in their pollinator conservation research through survey shared on their Staff Research Garden. Credit: Laura Rost / Xerces Society
Two people smile at the camera with a green meadow in the background.
Dr. Lars Brudvig, Associate Professor in MSU's Department of Plant Biology shared the great work students have conducted at their meadow restoration along Trowbridge Road. This living laboratory gives the Fisheries and Wildlife Club and multiple classes opportunities for long-term research and real-world habitat installation experience. Native seeds and plants are sources locally. Credit: Laura Rost / Xerces Society

Washtenaw Community College

A garden with large rocks and habitat sign.
The centrally-located Washtenaw Community College (WCC) Pollinator Garden demonstrates the beauty of gardening for pollinators and features a "Bee Campus USA and WCC" interpretive sign. Credit: Laura Rost / Xerces Society
Raised beds of flowering plants in a high tunnel greenhouse.
On this rainy morning, I toured their Food Forest, Nature Trail, and pollinator-filled, open-sided Hoop House. An array of vegetables, herbs, and flowers filled the greenhouse with a sweet smell.
A black and yellow bumble bee nectars on a bright pink zinnia.
The Hoop House attracts numerous pollinators which were just waking up on my visit. This sleepy bumble bee was slowly feeding on a zinnia. Credit: Laura Rost / Xerces Society

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

6 people stand in a row smiling, with tall green plants and a gray building in the background.
At University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (UM-Ann Arbor) I was joined by my talented coworker Stefanie Steele (third from left), Xerces Society's Pollinator Conservation Specialist for Urban and Small Farms in Underserved Communities in the Upper Midwest and NRCS Partner Biologist. We toured around the campus with staff, faculty, and students. In this photo, we're standing in front of their beautiful pollinator habitat at Darwin's Cafe at the Museum of Natural History. Credit: Sheila Schueller
An outdoor interpretive sign with text and flowers, surrounded by green plants.
Educational signage is included in multiple spots, with plant labels and interpretive signs like this one, that reads: “Pollinators support our food!”. Credit: Laura Rost / Xerces Society
A taller, green meadow in front of a gray-beige building with a blue sign. To the right is a walkway leading to front doors.
At the Samuel Trask Dana Building which houses the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) we saw a natural-looking native landscape with late-season blooms. We discussed the importance of engaging people with a wilder landscape through “cues to care”, a term popularized by their own Dr. Joan Iverson Nassauer, professor of Landscape Architecture. Credit: Laura Rost / Xerces Society

University of Michigan-Dearborn

Six people stand in from of a large bee hotel in the shape of an "M".
At UM-Dearborn we once again saw how education and public access are key components of pollinator conservation. This bee hotel is a popular photo op for passing students, and the thoughtful pollinator plant choices show off the seasonal beauty of a native plant garden. Bee hotels require good bit of maintenance to protect bees from parasites and disease (and predators may have a feast!), but they can be a helpful tool to help the public understand and get excited about pollinator conservation. Pictured (L to R): Rick Simek, Environmental Interpretive Center (EIC) Program Supervisor; Stefanie Steele, Pollinator Conservation Specialist for the Xerces Society; Grace Maves, Sustainability Program Coordinator; Laura Rost, Bee City USA and Bee Campus National Coordinator; Dr. David Susko, Associate Professor of Biology, Department of Natural Sciences; and Mike Solomon, EIC Nature Interpreter. Credit: UM-Dearborn
As you can see, UM Dearborn keeps their bee hotel clean and well-maintained. Leaving the leaves, saving the stems, and other natural nesting sites are also key components of their pollinator habitat. Credit: Laura Rost / Xerces Society
As you can see, UM Dearborn keeps their bee hotel clean and well-maintained. Leaving the leaves, saving the stems, and other natural nesting sites are also key components of their pollinator habitat. Credit: Laura Rost / Xerces Society
We toured their Environmental Interpretive Center, Rouge River Gateway Trail, and their Community Organic Garden (COG), where Stefanie and I shared Xerces publications and habitat signs. Credit: Grace Maves

Bonus site visit: Michigan State University-Detroit Extension Service's Partnership for Food, Learning and Innovation (DPFLI) with Detroit Hives

Four people stand around a large brown sign in front of a white building.
Nonprofit Detroit Hives was kind enough to show us around their native pollinator and honey bee habitat at MSU-Detroit Extension Service's Partnership for Food, Learning and Innovation (DPFLI), Michigan State University's first urban agriculture center. Pictured here is Sumaiyah Ahmed, Policy Analyst for the Detroit Council President Pro-Tempore James E. Tate, Jr.; Laura Rost; Nicole Lindsey, Co-Executive Director of Detroit Hives; and Stefanie Steele. Credit: Timothy Jackson, Detroit Hives
Detroit Hives transforms vacant Detroit lots into urban bee farms and has created beautiful pollinator gardens that benefit our native pollinators, too. Here Timothy Jackson, Co-Executive Director of Detroit Hives showed us how they modified a honey bee hive box to become a native bee hotel. Credit: Laura Rost / Xerces Society
Detroit Hives transforms vacant Detroit lots into urban bee farms and has created beautiful pollinator gardens that benefit our native pollinators, too. Here Timothy Jackson, Co-Executive Director of Detroit Hives showed us how they modified a honey bee hive box to become a native bee hotel. Credit: Laura Rost / Xerces Society
Swirling paths of brown mulch around green native plants with tall beehives in the background.
Detroit Hive’s new, beautifully designed pollinator garden at DPFLI. Credit: Laura Rost / Xerces Society
As we toured around the pollinator habitat throughout DPFLI's farm with Extension Center staff, we were joined by a bumble bee. Credit: Laura Rost / Xerces Society

Stay tuned for the recap of our visits with Bee City USA affiliates City of Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township, and Royal Oak!

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