BUILDING A KINGDOM FIT FOR A QUEEN

Building

a kingdom fit for a queen

By Madeline Coats

BEE AWARE OF POLLINATOR HEALTH

Do you like food? Well, pollinators are responsible for a third of all food consumed.

BEEvesting, an all-volunteer organization, is designed to support local agriculture by promoting pollinator health. Pollinators are organisms that carry pollen from one flower to another, thus supporting healthy ecosystems and rich biodiversity. They are critical to the survival of humans, wildlife and the planet.

Founding partners for the BEEvesting program include 21 Acres, Sammamish Valley Alliance, Sammamish Valley Grange and Coastal Community Bank.

The organization exists to increase awareness and community engagement around building safe habitats for all pollinators — bumble bees, tiny carpenter bees, green sweat bees, mason bees, wasps, moths, butterflies, hummingbirds and beetles.

“When you are thinking about shifting anything in your garden, consider how you can support the native pollinators,” said volunteer and lifelong gardener Patricia Newkirk.

Newkirk volunteers at the new pollinator garden in 21 Acres, which was started in partnership with BEEvesting in 2020. With funds from the King County Community Service Areas grant program, the roughly 2,000-square-foot garden is designed to help pollinators find food and shelter.

The garden project was launched by former volunteer Kevin Sander, who initially transformed the area into a pollinator-friendly environment. His mom, Colleen Willson, is also responsible for growing the BEEvesting program at 21 Acres through an internship with Cascadia College.

While the mother-son duo has finished their work, volunteers are stepping up to improve and implement pollinator pathways in the community. Members of the Woodinville Garden Club have also joined the effort, as well as students from University of Washington – Bothell and Cascadia College.

Newkirk is currently building a database of helpful plants specific to the Pacific Northwest. She wants other people to consider using these plants to invest in the health of pollinators in their own gardens at home, she said.

“We are trying to create a little resource and network,” she said, “and we’re hoping that people will get the idea.”

Once complete, the garden will act as a gathering place for visitors and volunteers to learn about pollinators and the best gardening practices to promote their well-being.

If you see one of our volunteers while you’re out and about, give them a wave!

Photos by Colleen Willson

According to Newkirk, one of the keys to pollinator health is an abundance and diversity of plants for foraging and nesting. However, due to habitat loss and insecticide use, native bees are under a lot of pressure and many are in danger of dying out.

“There are so many amazing things you can learn about putting in a garden,” she said

For those lacking natural green space, BEEvesting encourages the community to create pollinator-friendly gardens with native plants like Douglas Aster, Oregon Grape, Evergreen Huckleberry or Common Camas.

Is space an issue? Consider implementing a container herb garden with either lavender, chives, borage, mint, sage, oregano, thyme, rosemary, hyssop, marjoram, basil or beebalm.

Bees are just one subset of the many different pollinators that exist, Newkirk said. While the oak tree supports 250 creatures, she said, some insects like caterpillars and butterflies only have one-to-one relationships with certain plants.

She said monarch butterflies are specific to milkweed plants. But if the milkweed disappears, so do the monarchs. Newkirk said she enjoys learning about this “intricate cycle” and hopes to continue learning at 21 Acres.

“I’m really delighted that 21 Acres is here because it’s sort of like a grounding point for caring for the Earth,” she said. “There are so many different examples of how to get involved in nature and be a part in the ecosystem we live in.”

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There are so many different examples of how to get involved in nature and be a part in the ecosystem we live in." – Patricia Newkirk.

Newkirk, who volunteers once per week, said she hopes to see more volunteers in the garden as 21 Acres begins to roll back pandemic restrictions. To learn more about BEEvesting, visit https://beevesting.org.

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