Photos and text by Debbie Roos, Agricultural Extension Agent.

This event was sponsored by Chatham Mills Development Corporation and hosted by Chatham Marketplace at The Lawn at Chatham Mills in Pittsboro, NC. Chatham Marketplace is a locally owned co-op grocery store committed to buying from local producers.

This is the second annual National Pollinator Week, initially proclaimed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and a unanimous vote of the U.S. Senate in 2007. The purpose of Pollinator Week is to teach pollinator-friendly practices and raise public awareness of the importance of the bees, beetles, butterflies, moths, flies, birds, and bats that are needed to produce 80 percent of our flowering plants and one third of our human food crops. The National Academy of Sciences has reported that there is direct evidence of the decline of some pollinator species in North America. And, recently, Colony Collapse Disorder of honey bees has alarmed the agricultural industry.

Program Schedule:

10:00-10:30 am – Beekeeping Demo in Bee Cage – Don Hopkins, Apiary Inspector Supervisor, North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services -

10:30-11:00 am – Kids and Bees – Michael Almond, Chatham County Beekeepers’ Association

11:00-11:30 am – Kids’ Pollinator Scavenger Hunt

11:30 am-12:00 pm – Beekeeping Demo in Bee Cage – Michael Almond, Chatham County Beekeepers’ Association

12:00-12:30 pm – Basics of Beekeeping – Jim Williams, Chatham County Beekeepers’ Association

12:30-1:00 pm – Beekeeping Demo in Bee Cage – Don Hopkins, North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services

1:00-1:30 pm – Pollinator Conservation: How to Attract and Protect Pollinators – Debbie Roos, North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Chatham County Center

For more information about pollinator conservation, visit the Pollinator Conservation Guide at Cooperative Extension’s Growing Small Farms website.

Visit the Chatham Beekeepers’ Association website for more information about beekeeping and monthly meetings.

The pollinator-themed Kids' Scavenger Hunt was a big hit for folks of all ages! The scavenger hunt required folks to visit the displays and talk to beekeepers. They also had to go inside Chatham Marketplace to answer questions about food items that depend on pollinators. Participants received a handmade beeswax candle and beekeeping coloring book upon completion.

Download the Pollinator Scavenger Hunt handout.

For more information, view the pollinator brochure. Participants were also encouraged to enjoy a pollinator-friendly local lunch at Chatham Marketplace during the program (did you know that worldwide, approximately 1,000 plants grown for food, beverages, spices, fiber, and medicine require pollination by animals?).