To Bee or not to Bee: Tucker Nature Preserve Chooses to Bee in a Big Way

Tucker Nature Preserve Chooses to Bee in a Big Way

L. A. DISON

The Friends of Tucker Parks (FOTP) has completed the first step in a long-term plan to establish the city as a haven for pollinators. With the recent installation of bee hives at the Tucker Nature Preserve, the group has partnered with Tucker Parks and Recreation to build a bee habitat that serves both humans and our apian allies. "The parks are such an asset to the City of Tucker, and the Parks and Rec department has done a great job since taking over the parks in 2017,” said Suzanne Borchert, FOTP board member and Bee Habitat program manager. “They have improved our existing parks, added additional park space and added many sports-based recreational opportunities. But there was a need to have more eco-educational elements in our parks. We have the Native Plant and Wildlife Walk at Henderson Park and the Pollinator Garden and Peach Pit at Kelley Cofer Park, so the FOTP thought adding an active apiary, or honey bee colony, and wild flower meadow would be a great addition to our local ecosystem.”

FOTP began discussing the idea of a bee habitat in 2018, where visitors could observe and learn about bees and pollinators while enjoying the parks. Honey bee populations in the United States have been in decline over the past few decades, with over fifty percent of honey bee populations dying off in just the last ten years. While some of the decline is due to the rise of colony-destroying mites, the vast majority is because of habitat loss due to climate change

Girl Scouts from Troop 15239 painted the beehives based on a Valarie Nichols design. and manmade destruction. The Friends of Tucker Parks “Bee Educated Initiative” would leverage Tucker’s park lands while providing educational elements and programs to cultivate a healthy population of pollinators in the community.

After a year of community discussions and surveys about a bee habitat, the group kicked off a fundraising drive in 2019, with a silent auction that raised $7,000. Later that same year, DeKalb County Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson committed $50,000 to the program. The Bee Board scope out a proposed site for the Bee Habitat.

But just as the “Tucker Bee Initiative,” as it was then called, began to generate some real buzz in the community, COVID hit in spring 2020, shutting down most public events and threatening to stall the program’s momentum. The volunteer-driven “Bee Board” nonetheless forged ahead with its efforts, using the open spaces of the Nature Preserve to hold a masked and socially distanced meeting in September 2020 to push the program forward. A mission statement was crafted and adopted, and the Tucker Nature Preserve and Bee Habitat Master Plan was commissioned by the Tucker Parks and Recreation Department.

Landscape architecture firm Root Designs was selected to develop the Master Plan, with input from the Bee Board, FOTP and Tucker Parks and Rec. The plan was completed by the end of 2021, with Phase 1 to include a meadow and apiary areas. With the scope of Phase 1 now defined, the mission firmly stated, and the funds in hand, FOTP was ready to move forward with development.

Now officially named “The Bee Habitat@Tucker Nature Preserve,” the project began in earnest in January 2022. The site was cleared, a trail was established, and seventy-nine native buffer and pollinator supportive trees were planted. The Nature

The Friends of Tucker Parks Acknowledges the Contributions of these Individuals and Groups to the Establishment of The Bee Habitat at Tucker Nature Preserve

Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson Dekalb County District 7 City of Tucker Department of Parks and Recreation City of Tucker Friends of Tucker Nature Preserve FoTP Bee Board members: Pam McNall, Beth Ganga, Ray Ganga, Leonard Howell, Melissa Smith, Shawn Stone, Valarie Nichols, and Suzanne Borchert Bee Keepers Andrew and Ellen Ausley, and Steve Cook and Matty Garrett Michael Kidd and Roots Design Studio Girl Scout Troup 15239

Volunteers stomp the seeds in place as they plant the pollinator meadow.

Preserve celebrated the Great American Clean-Up Day there on April 2 by prepping the pollinator meadow for planting. While the meadow was seeded later that month, it takes three years and three seedings for a wild flower meadow to mature. This year’s planting will bloom in the late spring and summer. The meadow will be seeded again in spring 2023, and a third time in spring 2024. After that, the meadow will be self-sufficient, providing sufficient food for the local bees and other pollinators.

The beehives were installed this spring, and the bees were introduced to their new home. Over the next few weeks, final touches will be made to the site, including installation of the educational signs. The Bee Habitat will soon be ready for its open house, with a date planned sometime in late June. Watch the Tucker Nature Preserve Facebook page for the announcement of the ribbon-cutting – it will “bee” quite a celebration!

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