Bee City

Bee on a flower

Kawartha Lakes is officially recognized as a Bee City by Bee City Canada because we support healthy pollinator populations and ongoing efforts to preserve and create pollinator habitat. Being a Bee City reinforces the goals of our Integrated Community Sustainability Plan by encouraging community engagement and supporting healthy ecosystems and healthy food sources.

You can visit the Bee City Canada website to learn more about the program.

News

City celebrates its first year as a “Bee City”

The City of Kawartha Lakes is celebrating the one year anniversary this July of its designation as a Bee City. The City would like to recognize the hard work and effort that has been made by City residents, communities and organizations towards raising awareness about the importance of pollination. Read the full release under the City's news section.

Bobcaygeon's Jerry Jerrard is responsible for millions of lives

With roughly 500 hives spread out between several locations in the Kawartha Lakes, Jerrard enjoys sharing the ‘buzz’ on Earth’s sweetest pollinator. Please visit MyKawaratha's website to read more.

Kawartha Settlers' Village designated as a Bee Business by Bee City Canada

Bobcaygeon's Kawartha Settlers' Village was recently designated as a Bee Business by Bee City Canada. Guests who visit Kawartha Settlers’ Village will now be able to learn about traditional beekeeping and enjoy garden areas that include wildflowers, shrubs and trees that are important to pollinators.

Fenelon Falls resident wants you to celebrate Bee City Pollinators

Susan Blayney, a 10 year resident of the Fenelon Falls area is proud to have led the Environmental Advisory Comittee's Bee City initative and is now the Chair of Fenelon Falls' very own Pollinator Action Committee. Read more about Susan and her initatives here.

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Please like the City of Kawartha Lakes' Bee City Facebook page here.

Bee-friendly City initiatives

Fenelon Landfill Pollinator Project

The Fenelon Landfill Pollinator Project is an ongoing pilot started by the Environmental Advisory Committee and approved by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. 1.5 acres of final cover on a decommissioned cell at the Fenelon Falls landfill has been replaced with a pollinator-friendly seed mix. This project is monitored by Fleming College students.
See below for some photos of the project.

Fenelon Falls Landfill Site Map Photo

Fenelon Falls Landfill - site map photo

Fenelon Falls Landfill before photo

Fenelon Falls Landfill - before photo

Fenelon Falls Landfill in bloom photo

Fenelon Falls Landfill - "in bloom" after photo

An Interactive Pollinator Map is in the planning stages. Once complete it will show locations of pollinator projects, citizen-initiated pollinator gardens and patches.

Bee-friendly community initiatives

Bobcaygeon Wilderness Park Pollinator Garden
Rosedale Pollinator Garden
Annual Fenelon Falls Butterfly Count held on July 22, E-Mail Dan Bone for more information (dan.bone13@gmail.com)
Annual Carden Butterfly Count conducted in July by the Nature Conservancy of Canada Conservation Volunteers
Lindsay Community Gardens
Lilac Gardens of Lindsay
Fleming College's Frost Campus Butterfly Garden
Fenelon Falls Maryboro Museum Butterfly Garden
The Rosedale Pollinator Garden in the Trent-Severn Parkette

Bee Schools

Individual schools can become part of the Bee City family by making a pledge to protect pollinators and their habitats. Learn the 3 Simple Steps to becoming a Bee School.

Congratulations to Langton Public School in Fenelon Falls on being designated the 14th Bee School in Canada. This is the accomplishment of the school's Green Team and teacher Candice Milroy.

In their acceptance letter Bee City Canada states:
I am simply amazed by all that you have accomplished in such a short period of time. From composting at your school (not many schools I know of in Toronto compost), to getting involved with the local horticultural group, to growing organic food, building bee homes, to partnering with a local MP and getting the Blue Dot program into Fenelon Falls, to sharing the food you are growing with others in need, and a host of so many other initiatives that you have undertaken, I must applaud all
of you!

Get involved

Get on the Bee City mailing list. Email us at beecitykawartha@gmail.com
Bumble Bee Watch
Bee City Pollinator Action Committee meeting, 2nd Monday of the month, Lindsay Public Library. If you would like to attend please e-mail Bee City Kawartha Lakes
Free workshop in Omemee: Creating a Rain Garden
- August 2 6pm to 8pm at Omemee's Coronation Hall

Important dates

Pollinator-friendly gardens

You can help pollinators by creating foraging and nesting opportunities in your garden. Here are some tips to attract bees and butterflies to your garden.

Plant native

Choose native shrubs, trees and perennial flowers rich in pollen and nectar. Locally grown and pesticide free are best.

Mass plantings

Planting multiples of the same plant together in large groupings makes it easier for pollinators to find and collect pollen.

Choose single blooms

Double or triple bloom flowering varieties with lots of petals can block access to pollen and nectar.

Continuous bloom

Pollinators need a continuous source of pollen and nectar; so choose a variety of plants that will bloom from spring to fall.

Plant host plants

Butterflies lay their eggs on specific plants. Monarch butterflies, for example, will only lay their eggs on milkweed, the sole food source for their larva.

Provide water

A bird bath or shallow dish of water with half-submerged rocks will help bees and butterflies quench their thirst.

Provide sun

Butterflies like to bask in the sun, so place a few flat rocks in sunny, sheltered locations.

Keep it natural

Converting a lawn or garden to concrete, gravel, mulch or artificial turf reduces valuable food and nesting sites.

Bare ground

Many native bees build nests in soil, so leave some bare patches and limit your use of mulch.

Leave dead stems

Some bees hibernate and lay eggs in hollow stems. If you do cut, leave the bottom 8 inches or bundle the stems and place them in your garden.

Leave the leaves

Leave the leaves where they fall or rake them into your garden to provide overwintering habitat for butterflies.

Prune and deadhead

Remove dead flower heads to encourage new growth and extend the flowering season.

Reduce mowing

To avoid disturbing ground nesting bees, mow your lawn less often and set the blade at the highest level possible.

Avoid pesticides

Avoid plants/seeds treated with systemic insecticides, such as neonicotinoids. And don't spray pesticides. Pesticide Bylaw bans the cosmetic use of pesticides.

Native plants

Kawartha Conservation native plants.

Register Your Pollinator Pathway

A pollinator garden takes into account the needs of pollinators - bees, moths, beetles, butterflies and hummingbirds - by providing nectar and pollen. It is pesticide free and offers a variety of native species that bloom from spring through fall with flowers of different colours, shapes and sizes to suit all pollinators' tastes. Its habitat features can include a small water source, bee nesting sites and larval plants such as milkweed for Monarch Butterfly caterpillars. Your pollinator garden can begin as a container or span a full yard.

Anyone can participate: residents, schools, churches, businesses and farms. By planting pollinator-friendly plants, we are building a corridor across CKL and the database you are helping to create can be used to ascertain what our pollinator corridor looks like, what plant species are doing well here and what seasonal gaps are occurring so we can encourage planting of a wider variety of plants.

Help build our Pollinator Pathways and get on the map! Register your Bee City Kawartha Lakes Pollinator Pathway.