2022 was another notable year for Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA. We celebrated our 10-year anniversary, debuted new logos, and added almost 50 new affiliates to grow the network beyond 325 affiliates—and in doing this expanded into two new states, Arizona and Oklahoma, plus Puerto Rico. It was also my first year overseeing Bee City!
All year long, I was so heartened to learn how many smart, thoughtful, dedicated people are working to protect their pollinator neighbors throughout the U.S. I also had the honor of seeing firsthand the amazing work that is being done during a visit to six of our affiliates in Georgia, touring their beautiful pollinator-friendly outdoor classrooms, flower gardens, parks, and rooftop farms. I hope to meet more affiliates in person in the coming months.
The commitments of Bee City and Bee Campus are centered around three basic ideas: create pollinator habitat, reduce pesticides, and spread the word. We provide information resources and support, but the strength of this movement lies in the enthusiasm, creativity, and talents of each of our affiliates. Below is a series of snapshots pulled from the annual reports from our wonderful city, county, college, and university affiliates. If you want to see more of the impressive achievements, you can browse the 2022 annual reports.
We hope you enjoy celebrating the accomplishments of all the affiliates and find inspiration to try something new to grow your pollinator conservation community.
We are all so grateful to the countless staff, students, and volunteers who make their Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA initiatives so impactful and fun. Thank you!
Warmly,
Laura Rost, National Coordinator, and the Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA team
Laura visting Beecatur’s Willow Lane Pollinator
Habitat in Decatur, GA. Credit: Stefanie Steele
2022 BEE CITY USA AND BEE CAMPUS USA AFFILIATE SNAPSHOT
2022 City and Campus Stats:
- Pollinator-related community events: 1,735
- Attendees at pollinator conservation events: 258,343
- Pollinator habitat projects implemented: 1,625
- Acres of pollinator habitat created or enhanced: 12,901
- Pollinator habitat volunteers: 19,025
- People engaged in pollinator conservation through community events, volunteer activities, habitat projects, training courses, continuing education, and service learning:
- 2022: 316,719
- 2018-2022: 1,393,257
- Number of Bee City USA affiliates at end of 2022:
- Bee Cities: 170
- Bee Campuses: 157
- Total: 327
2022 Campus-Only Stats:
- Service learning projects to enhance pollinator habitat on and off-campus: 318
- Students in those service learning projects: 5,058
- For-credit courses that included pollinator-related information: 613
- Students in those for-credit courses: 27,873
- Number of continuing education courses including pollinator-related information: 126
- Number of participants in those continuing education courses: 6,389
Highlights of our 2022 Affiliate Annual Reports
Creating and enhancing pollinator habitat
Moorestown, NJ‘s Swedes Run Pollinator Site. “Moorestown STEM planted a 30 foot wide pollinator strip at the Swedes Run park along the entire border of Westfield Road (about 2000 feet). The strip was planted with a mix of Purple Coneflower, Gaillardia and Black-Eyed Susan see. About 10 people participated in the planting.” Credit: Bee City USA Moorestown, NJ Committee
University of Missouri, MO: “Bumblebee on bee balm at Mizzou’s A.L. Gustin Golf Course. Staff at Gustin, in partnership with local conservation groups and community members, have established pollinator plots throughout the course.” Credit: Leanne Tippett Mosby
In Talent, OR: “June 30th we celebrated the unveiling of the World’s Smallest Park. It comprises of an area of 374 square inches, in the form of a hexagon and contains 5 plants: Mock Orange (the only hybrid): Monardella, Lewisia, Pussytoes and Yellow-Eyed Grass (all natives). It emphasises that even a tiny space can provide a pollinator habitat. Six Bee City members and one friend created, under the tutelage of Karen Rycheck – the queen of mosaics – and in conjunction of the Talent Maker City, 7 hexagonal mosaic stepping stones. These surround the park/garden and are show stoppers since we used pollinator motives. A tiny wrought iron fence surrounds the immediate garden. We further enhance the quality of this park by administering the complete set of biodynamic applications and BD compost. At the unveiling we gave a talk on the importance of nurturing native pollinators and handed out seed packages of native flowering plants. The local press (TV stations and print media) covered the event. We were even featured during NBC’s World News. The event was attended by approx. 50 – 60 people.” Credit: Bee City USA Talent, OR Committee
In Hawthorn Woods, IL, volunteers prepare “to create the Phoebe Snetsinger Memorial Garden as a part of our Hawthorn Heritage Outdoor Museum Trail.” Credit: Village of Hawthorn Woods, IL
Reducing Pesticides
Greenwood, SC horticulture staff use a weed flamer instead of pesticides. Credit: Bee City USA Greenwood, SC Committee
In Westminster, CO, “At the Standley Lake Regional Park & Wildlife Refuge the use of any type of pesticide is prohibited. Other methods are used to ensure the safety of the wildlife and high quality of the lake’s water. Goats are commonly used to get rid of noxious weeds and other unwanted plants…Weeding with immediate seeding and planting has become a useful method to prevent the re-growth of invasive plants. This method is often used in Standley Lake’s pollinator garden.” Credit: Bee City USA Westminster, CO Committee
West Linn, OR utilizes the enthusiasm of volunteers to pull invasive species, like blackberries. “We have no-spray areas where our Pollinator Garden is located. We spray very minimally in our parks. Working on planting more plants to cover the ground to deter weed growth.” Credit: Bee City USA West Linn, OR Committee
Pollinator-conscious policies and plans
In South Carolina: “City of Florence Mayor Teresa Myers Ervin presents the National Pollinator Week Proclamation to Bee City Committee members during the Bee City Takeover event” at the farmers market during National Pollinator Week. Credit: Bee City USA Florence, SC Committee
In Olympia, WA: “For City-owned land, pesticide use has been eliminated except for when it is legally required to remove noxious weeds. In the Parks Department, alternative methods for removing invasive plants continue to be researched and implemented.” Credit: Bee City USA Olympia, WA Committee
Pollinator awareness events
Bee City USA Hampton, VA had a “booth with educational materials & children’s activities at Hampton Clean City Commission’s Earth Day event.” Credit: Bee City USA Hampton, VA Committee
In celebration of Pollinator Month, Carson City, NV held its 2nd Annual Pollinator Parade. Credit: Bee City USA Carson City, NV Committee
Bee City USA Twin Falls, ID tabling at Tubbs Berry Farm’s Bee Day, to promote their Magic Valley Pollinator Plant project: “We took on a project to offer for sale plant trays with 8 different plants, 4 of each plant for a total of 32 plants per tray to homeowners of our area. Our year was consumed by figuring out what plants would be grown & by whom. Then finding locations to advertise this project. This is a multi-year project ending Mother’s Day weekend, 2023.” Credit: Bee City USA Twin Falls, ID Committee
In Lexington, MA “the Lexington High School Bee Club and Lexington Bee Company received a grant from the Lexington Field and Garden Club to package and distribute hundreds of packages of native plant seeds. The residents of Artis Memory Care assisted in creating attractive seed packages.” Credit: Alexandra Bartsch
courses and continuing education
California State University Sacramento, CA students observe and learn in an outdoor classroom. Credit: Bee Campus USA California State University Sacramento, CA Committee
Medical University of South Carolina, SC: “Healing Through Nature…Planting in accessible raised bed at the MUSC Urban Farm…[The] mission of the MUSC Urban Farm to connect eating healthy with overall health.” MUSC hosted the Horticulture Therapy Institute Fundamentals 4-day long class for 20 students from around the country. Campus tours for the students included several pollinator gardens and the MUSC Urban Farm. Discussions focused on how pollinator habitats play an important role in Horticulture Therapy.” Credit: Bee Campus USA Medical University of South Carolina, SC Committee
Campus Service Learning
University of Connecticut, CT “Spring Valley student farmers hosted the UConn American English Language Institute to discuss the number of sustainable and organic practices at the farm.” Credit: Bee Campus USA University of Connecticut, CT Committee
In University of Georgia, GA‘s ENTO 4300/6300 Insect Outreach course, “Students established prairie planter display beds in the prairie restoration at the botanical garden and developed interpretive material to be linked to small plant identifier signs with QR codes.” This year, UGA has also created a second, custom-formatted Bee Campus USA report. Credit: Bee Campus USA University of Georgia, GA Committee
Pollinator signage
Please note: We updated our Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA logo in late 2022. Going forward, signage will look a little different. Affiliates who want to update their logos or street signs can find design files when they login to their Bee City or Bee Campus account and navigate to the “Logo” tab.
Havre de Grace, MD‘s Bee City USA street sign. Credit: Bee City USA Havre de Grace, MD Committee
At University of Washington Bothell-Cascadia College, WA: “The CCUWBee Research Initiative is an ongoing research project to document bees on campus with the goal of providing the campus community with detailed knowledge on local bee populations and how we can improve native bee habitats on campus. Students are given training on bee identification and then sent out across campus to quantify abundance. CCUWBee uses a morphogroup approach to sort bees into highly similar-looking categories, allowing us to identify each species often to the family level. Photos taken of the bees end up in our library archive, The Pollinator Native Bee Digital Collection, which has data from as far back as 2018. This research initiative is independent of any courses on campus, but often students from Dr. Lambert’s pollinator course end up joining…This sign is for our CCUWBee Research Initiative. When students are out in the field collecting data we put up this sign to raise awareness around what we are doing.” Credit: Bee Campus USA University of Washington Bothell-Cascadia College, WA Committee
Some of Bee City USA Middletown, MD‘s committee members at a newly established pollinator garden. Credit: Bee City USA Middletown, MD Committee
Bee City and Bee Campus Committees
Gastonia, NC staff and committee members at Beetopia. Credit: Bee City USA Gastonia, NC Committee
Greenfield, WI Pollinator Protection Committee’s Holiday Gathering, Credit: Bee City USA Greenfield, WI Committee
Some Bee City USA Red Lodge, MT committee members and volunteers participating in bare root tree plantings. Credit: Bee City USA Red Lodge, MT Committee
