Carrboro to observe week honoring bees

Next week, downtown Carrboro will be buzzing with new activities.

From June 13 through June 21, Carrboro will be celebrating its first ever Pollinator Week. This inaugural event will become an annual tradition of raising awareness about the role pollinators play in the environment.

The event follows a resolution passed by the Board of Aldermen in the fall that made Carrboro the nation’s third Bee City USA, Alderman Damon Seils said.

Bee City USA requires certified cities, like Carrboro, to host community awareness activities.

The series of events is sponsored by the town’s Environmental Advisory Board and will be hosted at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market.

The activities are timed to coincide with National Pollinator Week.

“The events will primarily educate people in the community about why pollinators are so important and how they hold local ecology and food systems together,” Seils said.

On June 13, the typical harvest at the farmers market will be supplemented by the special additions to celebrate the week. The events will also help support local farmers who work with and sell local pollinators, said Marty Hank, beekeeper and vendor at the farmers market.

“We are looking for this to grow every year,” Hank said.

The gazebo area of the market will house a demonstration of a honeybee hive and the construction of a native bees’ nest.

There will also be a place for people to enter their names in a raffle for pollination-related prizes.

“We are looking to promote a safe, healthy environment; healthy populations of pollinators; and a healthy pollination. It’s bigger than just our food supply,” Hank said.

The town’s week-long celebration will conclude with a screening of “More Than Honey,” a documentary by Oscar-nominated director Markus Imhoof, at the Century Center at 3 p.m. on June 21.

But the N.C. Botanical Garden’s Saving Our Pollinators exhibition will include an additional 29 community events.

From workshops to lectures about the pollinator population crisis to tours of the pollinator gardens, the exhibition will have something for everyone, said Jennifer Peterson, spokeswoman for the N.C. Botanical Garden.

Next weekend’s festivities, called Buzz-y Bees, will have indoor and outdoor activities for children ages 3 to 5 to learn more about pollinators in a fun and interactive setting.

“One in three bites of food is created by pollinators, and 80 percent of all flowering plants rely on pollinators,” Peterson said.

“Pollinators are important for food security and environmental health.”

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