Fourth annual Bee-Palooza attracts hundreds despite stormy weather
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EmailEach year since its beginning in 2012, MSU Entomology's Bee-Palooza has attracted more people excited to learn about bees and what they can do to help them.
Each year since its beginning in 2012, MSU Entomology’s Bee-Palooza has attracted more people excited to learn about bees and what they can do to help them. The event continues to grow in popularity with attendance at this year’s event, held June 7, 2015, topping 400 participants, despite threatening thunderstorms all afternoon.
The theme for this year’s Bee-Palooza was “Give Bees a Chance – Plant More Flowers,” because the second most frequently asked question after, “What’s going on with the bees?” is, “What can I do to help?” Planting flowers that bees can use is the easiest way to help them. In fact, in May the White House released a national strategy to promote the health of honey bees and other pollinators. One if its main goals is to encourage the planting of more bee habitats.
Thirty volunteers were on hand to support this year’s five stations plus a pollinator face-painting area. Children and adults were fascinated by the many different kinds of native bees on display at the Michigan Bees station. They were curious to learn about beekeeping and to see honey bees in action at the observation hive at the Honey Bee station. A long line formed to be able to pet the male bumble bees and peek into a bumble bee colony at the Bumble Bee station. They were surprised to learn how easy it is to build a bee hotel to attract solitary mason and leafcutter bees and to provide habitat for all bees at the Pollinator Conservation and Bee Hotel station.
Participants enjoyed eating ice cream as they learned about all the crops that are dependent on pollination by bees at the Bees and Food station. Children and even some adults walked away from the pollinator face-painting area with colorful butterflies, bats, bees and birds painted on their faces.
The Michigan Beekeepers Association provided honey sticks and coloring books on honey bee biology. Koppert Biologicals, based in Howell, Michigan, provided the bumble bees for the Bumble Bee station.
In advance of the event, a reporter from WKAR’s Current State interviewed MSU Department of Entomology’s Julianna Wilson, one of the organizers of the event. You can listen to that interview online.
