The Earthwise Society is welcoming spring with a lineup of activities to help locals "Feed the Bees." Through film screenings, workshops, plant sales and garden tours, the goal is to support bee populations with an explosion of bee-friendly plants and gardens.
The season opens on Thursday, March 21 with a screening of the award-winning documentary Vanishing of the Bees at 7 p.m. in the Red Barn at the Earthwise Farm and Garden. The thought-provoking investigation of the mysterious disappearance of apparently healthy honeybees will leave people wanting to do their part to protect pollinators. A discussion with local beekeepers will follow the screening. RSVP to secure an advance registration price of $5 ($10 at the door).
Home gardeners can get started on the own pollinator-friendly planting with the How To Feed The Bees workshop at the Earthwise Garden at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 23. Learn how to design a bee-friendly garden to create "habitat corridors" of blooms throughout the growing season.
As a special incentive, the Earthwise Society will be offering a buy one, get one free sale on Bee Garden Starter Kits at the workshop. The kits, valued at $40, include seven perennials selected to provide bee friendly blooms from April to October.
Feed The Bees is a partnership between Earthwise Society and Delta Chamber of Commerce to encourage individuals or businesses to support healthy bee populations by planting gardens that provide a year-long food source for pollinators. Participants are asked to register their bee-friendly gardens with Feed the Bees to help identify habitat corridors throughout the community.
Later this year, some of the best gardens will be opened to the public as part of a Bee Friendly Garden Tour. If your garden is a pollinator's paradise, call the Earthwise Society to have it included.
For more information on Feed The Bees, visit www. earthwisesociety.bc.ca and www.feedthebees.org.
To register your garden, to reserve tickets or sign up for the workshop, contact info@earthwisesociety. bc.ca or call 604-946-9828.
The Earthwise Farm and Garden are at 6400-3rd Ave, Boundary Bay.
