In the Fall of 2021 the Bees, Birds and Butterflies Committee hosted a presentation by Andy Fairbanks of Wilmington Parks and Recreation. We learned that Wilmington is an official Bee City. There are requirements to keep this designation (see BeeCityUSA.org). The New Hanover County Beekeepers Association helps Halyburton, a county park, be a pollinator friendly park. Bees pollinate within a 4 to 5-mile radius. The beekeepers hope that we will add native plants to existing butterfly gardens. He also introduced us to the “I Naturalist”app and “Citizen Scientist” app that can help identify plants and animals while geotagging their location.
In Winter 2021 projects to create edible ornaments for birds were led by Vice-Chair, Kathy Respet. The committee provided the ingredients.
In the Spring of 2022 Committee member Louli Sharf taught us how to create a Butterfly Craft. While a little messy, it was fun to get our hands dirty while creating butterfly projects.
In May of 2022, Chair, Annie Anthony and Vice-Chair, Kathy Respet went out to Skywatch Bird sanctuary to present them with an $800 check. The money will be used for the creation of a pollinator garden that schoolchildren can walk through to learn more about bees and pollinator flowers. The wonderful markers that were used at the Cape Fear Garden Club Azalea Garden Tour 2022 will be used in the pollinator garden at Skywatch Bird sanctuary. Members will be invited out for several days of hands-on work to move the garden forward. We look forward to making another donation in 2022/2023.