Bee Campuses

Another Great Year!

Dec 21, 2018 | Bee Businesses, Bee Campuses, Bee Cities, Bee Schools, Featured, News, Partners

Dear friends,

2018 proved to be another exciting and encouraging year at Bee City Canada, with an ever-expanding list of cities, towns, schools, businesses and other organizations stepping forward and committing to protect the health of our pollinators. By year’s end:

13 new cities and towns joined us bringing our current total to 22 Bee Cities, spanning from British Columbia to New Brunswick.
11 new businesses and other organizations, including The Calgary Zoo, were designated Bee Businesses.
21 Bee Schools, such as The University of Guelph, Western University and Fleming College, committed to educational activities, creating healthy habitats on school grounds and celebrating pollinators!

Looking Ahead

Early signs for things to come in 2019 have us further excited!

More Bee City Communities – We have been in contact with several new cities, businesses and schools that plan to join our growing Bee City family in the new year.
Free Webinars – Look out for our free, public webinars featuring experts on pollinators, plants and other subjects.

We close off by wholeheartedly thanking you, our friends across Canada and elsewhere, for your continued support and commitment to protecting our cherished pollinators. 2019 promises to be another busy year and we look forward to it with much anticipation.

Happy Holidays!

The Bee City Canada team

Please Support our Work

Bee City Canada depends on the generosity of our donors and sponsors. With your help, we can continue to support our school programs, educational activities and work towards creating a more pollinator-friendly Canada.

Make A Donation

Bee City Canada is a federally-recognized charity, registration number 745761692 RR0001.

Western Becomes First University Recognized by Bee City Canada!

Jul 25, 2018 | Bee Campuses, Bee Schools, Featured, News

Western University is buzzing with excitement after becoming the first university to be designated a Bee School by Bee City Canada!

Western University is a proud member of the Bee City Canada family!

The Bee City designation is given to communities, including cities, towns, First Nations, businesses and schools, that establish and maintain healthy pollinator habitat within their boundaries. To be recognized, participants are committed to:

Creating, maintaining and/or improving pollinator habitat
Educating their community about the importance of pollinators, and
Celebrating pollinators during National Pollinator Week or at other times.

Bumble bee and catmint (Nepeta racemose Walker’s Low) spotted on campus.

Creating and maintaining and/or improving pollinator habitat

With over 422 acres, the Western University campus provides many opportunities for pollinator friendly spaces and plants to be integrated. Over the next 5 years, several of Western’s gardens and manicured areas will include more native plant species and plants. Along with already established pollinator friendly trees, Landscape Services has begun the process by increasing plantings of ironweed, liatris, and Joe Pye weed.

Similarly, Western’s Indigenous Studies students have created a medicinal garden on campus. The garden features many native plants sought by pollinators.

Beekeeper Rick Huismann tends to the bees.

Educating the community about the importance of pollinators

Another key component of the designation includes educating the campus community on the benefits of being bee friendly. Our Green campus is an ongoing lecture series at Western. This coming academic year, the lecture series will include a module focusing on pollinators. Participants will learn about care for native plants and enticing habitat, including creating Bee Condos.

Celebrating pollinators during International Pollinator Week

Western is hosting a Pollinator Week during the academic year, with the goal of engaging students, staff, and faculty. The week will be highlighted by a booth on campus, interactive information about pollinators and current campus initiatives, and social media updates. Participants may also sample or buy pollinator friendly products, such as Great Hall Catering’s honey, harvested from beehives on campus.

To date, Bee City Canada recognizes the participation of 19 cities, 8 businesses, and 20 schools.

Laura Pendlebury

This featured post was written by Laura Pendlebury, a Masters of Environment and Sustainability student from Western University. Laura wants to work with public and private enterprises to improve their current environmental practices and integrate sustainability into both short and long term operations. She can often be found outside petting other people’s dogs, discussing the fascination and critical importance of pollinators and their habitats, and encouraging anyone who will listen to reduce their waste and sort it properly.

A Great Year at Bee City Canada!

Dec 20, 2017 | Bee Businesses, Bee Campuses, Bee Cities, Bee Schools, News, Partners

With the end of the year approaching, we share with you Bee City Canada’s highlights for 2017 and plans for the future.

Bee Cities from coast to coast! Eight new cities joined us, bringing our current total to 10 Bee Cities, spanning from British Columbia to New Brunswick.

Businesses are helping pollinators! Businesses and organizations, like West Queen West BIA and The Bee Shop, have partnered with us through our new Bee Business program. Also, generous support from A. Vogel and Movieposter.com helped us to continue to advocate for pollinators.

Schools are buzzing! Gardens were planted, seeds were saved and young minds at our six Bee Schools and one Bee Campus learned many important things about bees, butterflies and other pollinators.

Much Anticipation for 2018

Our plans for the new year include some exciting, new initiatives.

More Bee Communities – Keep Bee City growing by adding:

10 new Bee Cities
50 Bee Businesses and organizations, and
20 new Bee Schools and Campuses.

New initiatives:

Launch a free regional native seed giveaway program for all Bee Cities and other members.
Establish six edible and pollinator gardens at schools.
Organize workshops and field trips to connect students with how food is grown.
Host free public webinars featuring experts on pollinators and other subjects.

Support our Work

As a charitable organization, our work depends on the generosity of our donors and sponsors. We are confident that, with your help, we can continue to support these initiatives and advocate for the protection of pollinators across Canada.

Make a donation!

We close off by wholeheartedly thanking you, our friends across Canada and elsewhere, for your continued support and commitment to our cherished pollinators. 2018 promises to be another busy year and we look forward to it with much anticipation.

Happy holidays to you and your families!

The Bee City Canada team

Welcome Canadore College, Our First Bee City Campus

Sep 5, 2016 | Bee Campuses

Candore College West Parry Sound Campus has become the first Bee Campus in Canada!

The Parry Sound and Area Community Apiary was established on the Parry Sound campus and will be used for Canadore beekeeping-related programing, as well as serve as an educational resource for primary and secondary school teachers, the Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve, the Horticultural Society and other groups. The apiary was made possible through funding received from TD Friends of the Environment and Crofter’s Organic.