Westben Kids - What does it mean to be a "Bee City"?
Wahoo! Campbellford was named a Bee City in 2019! … but what does this really mean?
Last week we listened to Flight of the Bumblebee played by The Canadian Brass and learned about how bees & brass instruments can be musical in a similar way. If you missed last week’s Westben Kids, not to worry, click here to catch up!
To me, a Bee City is a community that protects and grows natural areas where pollinators, like bees, can thrive. A Bee City takes time to learn all about their natural environment & the roles that bees play in keeping it healthy. Today, using the Bee City Canada program’s 3 main goals, we will be taking a closer look at where bees like to live, what a pollinator is & how music can help “bee friendly” plants grow! Follow along.
The Bee City Canada program has three main goals:
Creating Healthy Bee Habitats
Teaching about Pollinators
Celebrating Pollinators - during International Pollinator Week (June 22-28)
1. How can we create healthy bee habitats?
A habitat is a place where a creature makes its home. A healthy habitat has all of the food, space & water a living thing needs to thrive. Bumblebees eat almost exclusively flowers and like a varied diet just like we do. Planting a flower garden of plants that grow naturally in your area can promote healthy bees!
On May 22, Westben partnered with The Nature Conservancy of Canada to make over 50 native seed kits available to be safely picked up outside of The Clock Tower in Campbellford. 30 more kits were distrubuted on June 9th to the Trent Hills community. This is exciting because it means that over 80 families in Trent Hills have started to care for bee friendly gardens!
“This is a blossoming partnership and idea. It started out as a partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada who now is overseeing 95 acres of forest and fields across from Westben and has grown to include our Youth and Teen choirs” - Donna Bennett. Click here to read more about this initiative!
Watch this video made by The Nature Conservancy to learn how to use house hold items to plant seeds.
2. What is a pollinator?
“Pollinators support the health of plants, people, and the planet.” - www.pollinator.org
Our friends the bees are pollinators!
To learn more take a Virtual Tour of this Pollinator poster: CLICK HERE
3. How can we celebrate Pollinator Week?
Pollinator Week is just around the corner on June 22-28, 2020. This year Westben would like to celebrate as a community by helping our native gardens grow with MUSIC! We invite you to particpate in our Community Sound Garden project - MUSIC FOR SEEDS!
Did you know that music helps plants grow? CLICK HERE to learn more. Westben is calling for poems, songs, & soundscapes from people/families of all ages! Send us as many videos as you would like of your pieces and of your seeds growing. Start your sonic seeding adventure today!
Submissions can be made to westben@westben.ca and will be featured on the Music for Seeds page on our website as well as our Facebook & Instagram!
Thank you for reading and remember - try & Beeee positive!
Samantha Clark
For a bit of extra fun!
Print off this colouring page and trace the bee’s trails to draw musical notes & clefs. Colour in the flower & label each note/clef then e-mail us your results!
