Bee-O-Diversity: Meet Austin’s Native Bees
June 27 @ 9:30 am – 12:00 pm
Presented by Austin Parks & Recreation’s Community Gardens Program
Explore the amazing world of native bees! Learn about local species, what they need, and where to find them in the Zilker Botanical Garden.
Photo courtesy of Deana Dossey, taken at Gus Garcia Community Garden. Species: Pruinose Squash Bee (Xenoglossa pruinosa).
Meet your Presenter:
Lindsay Loftin is a proud Master Naturalist with a Masters in Sustainability Studies from Texas State University. Lindsay was recently hired on as the Community Garden’s Program Coordinator for APR and was formerly the Education Specialist here at Zilker Botanical Garden. She is the founder and lead researcher for the APR Native Bee Monitoring Project. In it’s third year, the Native Bee Monitoring Project made up of 11 volunteers from two Master Naturalist chapters has contributed valuable knowledge to the scientific community. Through it’s highly collaborative citizen science model, the program has grown the species count of native bees identified at Zilker Botanical Garden from 10 to over 40 species! Enjoy this presentation then take a walk around the garden to see which ones you can spot! The Herb Garden, Butterfly Trail, and Organic Garden are all favorites for the bee monitoring volunteers to spot the highest diversity of species in a small area.
And don’t miss…
Tabling by Master Naturalist: Get the first look at Austin Parks & Recreation’s newly curated display collection of Travis County’s common native bees.
Educational Tools: Be the first to take home the Bee City free seasonal planting guide for supporting local native bee diversity in your yard and community garden! Created in collaboration with Master Naturalists, the City of Austin Parks & Recreation Community Garden’s Program, and the Austin Nature & Science Center, this guide shows common native bees and which flowers they depend on by season. Many bees have a short emergence period of a few weeks to a few months as adults each year. For this reason, planting native and adapted plants which bloom during those emergence seasons is so important for native pollinators.
This class is geared toward adult learners but is open to participants of all ages. Your ticket purchase directly supports the mission of the Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy, so please note the Garden does not provide refunds. Contact info@zbgconservancy.org with any questions.
Austin Parks and Recreation Community Gardens Program
communitygardens@austintexas.gov