Bee Girl

Programs: Kids and bees program: this program aims to educate the next generation of citizens on the importance of bees and inspire them to take part in the bees' preservation. Our bees provide one out of every three bites of food we eat. No bees, no food, no us. It's also a commonly known fact that our bees are in trouble. Annual losses of honey bee colonies are in the tens of thousands. We are losing our bees at unsustainable rates. It will be up to the next generation to not only understand their importance, but to take action in their conservation. Bee girl's kids and bees program teaches kids, in a positive and engaging way, why our bees are essential to everyday life and how the kids can be honey bee heroes. Students engage in interactive lessons on bees, honey, beeswax, beekeeping, sustainable agriculture, pollination, and our food. In 2017, we worked with 954 kids through our events, school programs, and summer camps.

farming for bees: at the 2015 northwest farmers union conference, the organization became inspired to work with our farming and ranching friends to find the best possible "win-win-win" solutions for farmers and ranchers, and bees and beekeepers. We have two primary goals. One is to develop a low maintenance and inexpensive flower "regenerative bee pasture" for the land manager to both substitute for chemical fallow, as well as to interplant in pasture for an environmentally and economically improved area for farmers to harvest or graze. In this mix, we also hope to provide a strong nectar flow to feed bees and provide a honey crop for beekeepers. Our second goal is to develop a nutritious buckwheat flower variety for bees. Our aim is to produce a unique, flavorful, and valuable honey flow for beekeepers to capitalize upon, especially during the "nectar dearth" when natural nectar and pollen is rare. This variety will double as a "trap crop" and keep them from predating on wine grapes. We will also develop and implement educational programming for planting, irrigation, and harvest, to maximize benefits for bees, beekeepers, and farmers and ranchers. We will share our story (successes, challenges, and failures) every step of the way on our blog, social media, and at events and field days. In 2017, we leased 2. 5 acres in ashland, oregon, and began to grow regenerative bee pasture.

beekeeping education: through our beekeeping education program, we teach newbeekeepers how to care for their bees, we facilitate the next generationbeekeepers initiative, which aims to bring more millennial and generation xbeekeepers into the beekeeping industry, we facilitate breakout sessions atbeekeeping conferences across the country to develop solutions for issues in thebeekeeping industry, and we teach beekeepers how to work with kids. In 2017, we worked with 1,135 beekeepers.