Bees and Pollinators

On an issue that couldn't be much more in the wheel house of Champaign County is the intersection of agriculture, environmentalism, science, alternative energy, and politics... through bees and other pollinators. From an article about a U of I Pollinatarium event from last Friday's News-Gazette:

UI Pollinatarium raising funds with buzzworthy 'Bee-zaar'
...
Pollinators transfer pollen and seeds from one flower to another, fertilizing the plant so it can grow and produce food. It's estimated that a third of the world's crop production and 90 percent of wild plants depend on pollinators...

On May 30, the Illinois General Assembly unanimously approved Senate Bill 3214, a "pollinator-friendly" solar energy bill encouraging the creation of habitat for bees, butterflies and other pollinators at solar sites.

The UI Department of Entomology's Adam Dolezal, a honeybee expert, helped design a scorecard for designating a solar facility as "pollinator-friendly," based on similar efforts in Minnesota and Michigan, Berenbaum said.

Typically installed on farmland, solar installations affect the biological community there and can deprive beneficial species, including pollinators, of important resources, she said.

But energy farms and pollinators are compatible if the right vegetation is planted — not just flowers, but habitat suitable for nesting and over-wintering, she said...

Over the next year, in time for the Pollinatarium's 10th anniversary, Berenbaum would like to see Champaign-Urbana earn a "Bee City USA" designation, by signing on to a pledge to create pollinator-friendly environments in the city...

The city of Urbana is already a signatory to the National Wildlife Federation's Mayors' Monarch Pledge, an effort to save the dwindling monarch butterfly population, said Scott Tess, Urbana's environmental sustainability manager. The city maintains butterfly gardens at the Urbana Free Library and elsewhere with milkweed and other flowering plants that support Monarch butterflies, he said.

The city also partners with Midwest Grows Green, which promotes natural lawn care practices as opposed to chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

The UI is already in the process of becoming a "Bee Campus USA," spearheaded by students in the Sustainability Living and Learning Community this past year, said campus sustainability coordinator Morgan White.

More at the full article here, including more information about last Saturday's event.