June 20, 2024: Did you know that June 17-23 is Pollinator Week? Pollinator Week was initiated and is managed by Pollinator Partnership (P2), a charity founded to promote the health of pollinators through conservation, education, and research. This special week is dedicated to celebrating the vital role that pollinators play in our ecosystems, our economy and our agriculture, and raising awareness about how to support and protect their health and survival.
And…did you know that pollinators include not only bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and moths but also bats, beetles and even some types of flies?!? And that this year’s “Pollinator of the Year” is the flower fly? Flower flies, also known as syrphid flies or hover flies (because of the way they hover over flowers like a helicopter), are thought to be the second most important pollinators after bees!
To learn more about this special week and Pollinator Partnership Canada (P2C), including their many learning resources about pollination and pollinators, check out their website here.
Pollinator Partnership Canada was also instrumental in founding the Bee Ambassadors Program, under their Bee City Canada program, back in 2021. This program is now run by Bee Ambassadors Canada, an independent charity established in 2023 whose primary focus is creating and delivering learning resources for students from JK through Grade 6 including online and in-person presentations and other classroom resources. To date, Bee Ambassadors Canada has reached over 50 thousand students across 9 provinces! Learn more about Bee Ambassadors Canada here.
Happy Pollinator Week! Let’s be kind this week, and every week, to the pollinators all around us!
And…Happy Summer Solstice 2024!
