We heard this question many times over the course of the day at Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s 100th birthday – “Bee Day” – celebration on June 12. Ed Toth, Liz Johnson, and I manned a Great Pollinator Project table where a small box of bees from the American Museum of Natural History’s collection attracted a lot of interest.
These bees, in a variety of colors and sizes, were a source of great fascination. “Which ones are bees?” “That one looks like an ant with wings.” All day long people were surprised to learn that there could be so many different bees and that they are all native to the area. So far 230 species of bees have been documented in New York City!
Liz Johnson indicates features of NYC's diverse bees.
Bee Day was a great platform for communicating the importance of native bee pollinators in the City. BBG visitors saw just a small sample of the diversity of native bees, and learned how to create bee nesting habitat by building nest boxes or bundling hollow or pithy reeds for cavity-nesting bees. They gathered information on creating bee-friendly gardens and how to become NYC Bee Watchers. Some tried their hand at sorting photos into the five categories of bees Bee Watchers look for and were rewarded with a sticker stating, “I’m a NYC Bee Watcher!”
Experienced Bee Watchers, take note: There’s a lot going on out there with native pollinators that your neighbors don’t know about. Spread the word and they won’t be able to resist watching bees, too!
See photos of Bee Day and learn about 100th birthday celebration activities at BBG.