HoCo Bee City Presents: How to Really Save the Bees & Other Pollinators

Did you know that none of the many different kinds of native bees in North America live in hives, and that all are very unlikely to sting you? Many are now at risk, yet most people don’t even know these important pollinators exist. Historically understudied and still under appreciated, the nearly 4,000 native species on the continent live decidedly different lifestyles than that of the honeybee, a captive-bred animal originally introduced from Europe. Most lead solitary lives, nesting underground or in holes in wood and twigs. Some are specialists, gathering pollen only from certain native plants to provision their nests. Many are so small they’re often mistaken for flies or gnats. All are worthy of our attention and concern. And you don’t have to don a beekeeper suit to help native bees—you can be a wild beekeeper instead!

Join Howard County Bee City to learn how support bees—as well as butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, hummingbirds and other pollinators—throughout their lifecycles.

Nancy Lawson is co-chair of Howard County Bee City and the author of The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife and Wildscape: Trilling Chipmunks, Beckoning Blooms, Salty Butterflies, and other Sensory Wonders of Nature.Certified as a Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional, she also volunteers as a master naturalist and co-launched a community science project, Monarch Rx, based on scientific discoveries made in her own habitat. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, O magazine, Entomology Today, and Ecological Entomology. Her book Wildscape is a 2024 finalist for the AAAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Writing and received an honorable mention in the American Horticultural Society’s national book awards.

Check out the full schedule of upcoming gardening classes at Miller here: bit.ly/garden_at_miller

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