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Love a Sunflower!
The 2018 summer solstice is just a few days away on Thursday, June 21 at 6:07 AM EST. Sunflowers are a plentiful food source for many species of bees and are starting to bloom as well! There are about 70 sunflower species that make up the genus Helianthus, a name rooted in two Greek words: "Helios" meaning "Sun" and "Anthos" meaning "Flower." The sunflower pictured is a Midwest Prairie native called the Willow-Leaf Sunflower (Helianthus salicifolius) growing at the Penn State University Arboretum .
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Tour a Pollinator Habitat!
This Friday June 22, tour Garden Dream's Certified Natural Wildlife Habitat Gardens in Wilkinsburg, PA! Garden Dreams is a great example of how much native and cultivated plant-life diversity can be achieved in urban lots. Tour runs for an hour from 11:00am -12:00pm. Christina from Apoidea Apiary will be there to answer native bee and honey bee questions. This is a free event open to everyone interested in learning more about how we create a healthy ecosystem that supports our pollinator friends. All native perennial plants are on sale at 20% off at Garden Dreams.
Click for Details.
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Watch Bats in Flight!
Bats are often undervalued and misunderstood when they should be respected for all their ecological benefits as pollinators! Similar to bees, these creatures play a very essential role in maintaining healthy ecosystems but have recently been plagued by diseases such as White Nose Syndrome. Globally, over 1,300 species of bats consume vast amounts of insects, including some of the most damaging agricultural pests. They are also important for helping night-blooming plants set fruit. You can hang with the bats and get a rare glimpse of their world this Wednesday June 20. Watch millions of bats emerge in the Texas sunset LIVE on The Weather Channel App! Live streaming of the bats will start at 9:00 pm EST/ 8:00 PM CT. Commentary of the live stream will be from meteorologist Kait Parker and bat expert Fran Hutchins with Bat Conservation International.
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Taste Tree Honeys!
Many trees, such as Linden, Black Cherry and Black Locust, produce significant spring nectar flows for bees in exchange for pollination! Sampling spring tree honeys will be part of the fun at Tree Pittsburgh's upcoming Summer Solstice Party this Friday, June 22 from 5:00 - 9:00 pm. You'll get to a sneak peak of Tree Pittsburgh's new Allegheny Riverfront education campus and tree nursery and enjoy local libation and live music by the Morningside Band.
Click for Details
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Citrus Creamsicle is Back!
Summer-inspired honey infusions are brewing including Citrus Creamsicle and Citrus Chipotle Chile. We'll have our newest creations plus our 100% local Certified Naturally Grown raw honeys available just in time for Independence Day parties! Friday, June 29, we'll be at The Farmer's Market at The Block at Northway in the North Hills from 3:00pm to 7:00pm. Address of the market is 8013 McKnight Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237 (map). You can also find apoidea's honeys at these retail locations and through Apoidea's studio shop As always, bring your empty honey bottles for recycling exchange and receive a $0.50 discount per bottle!
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Seed Bomb the Burgh!
Join Burgh Bees and Apoidea Apiary this Saturday, June 23 at 6:30pm for an early evening hike at The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania's Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve. We'll be scouting for upcoming native summer blooming wildflowers and looking out for hunting bats. Please RSVP here if you plan on coming so you can connect with the group at the Beechwood parking lot. Afterwards, we'll be seed-bombing some local roadsides and river edges as we're heading to Strange Roots Experimental Ales in Millvale, PA to finish the evening. Pollinated fruits in their crafted beers on tap include peaches, apples, oranges, dragon fruit, mango and pineapple. Thanks to Roxanne Swan, horticulturalist at WPA Audubon's Center for Native Plants for the generous donation of native perennial seeds, clay and compost to make the seed bombs!
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