The Kelowna Bee Ambassador Program

Work­ing togeth­er as a com­mu­ni­ty, over 350 home own­ers, busi­ness­es, schools, and oth­er prop­er­ty stew­ards in Kelow­na BC made the com­mit­ment to sup­port the over 400 bee species native to the Okana­gan. In the spring and sum­mer of 2018, peo­ple signed up to become a “Bee Ambas­sador.” Along with get­ting a sign and a pack­age of gar­den­ing infor­ma­tion, a Bee ID guide and a $5 gift card from The Green­ery Gar­den Cen­tre, Bee Ambas­sadors made a com­mit­ment to: 
  • Plant and care for a min­i­mum one-square meter bed of rec­om­mend­ed bee-friend­ly flowers.
  • Choose drought-tol­er­ant, pes­ti­cide-free plants that bloom from spring to fall.
  • Leave bare spots for wild bees to dig and nest in.
  • Put up a sign in a spot vis­i­ble to the public.
  • Com­mit to telling neigh­bours what you’re doing and get one or two more peo­ple to jump on board.
  • Send us pho­tos of bees, you and your garden!
  Our won­der­ful Bee Ambas­sadors joined the over 100 Nec­tar Trail Bee Ambas­sadors who signed up in 2017.  Both projects were gen­er­ous­ly sup­port­ed and part­ly fund­ed by World Wildlife Fund- Cana­da.  The project also fea­tured two great work­shops:  Bee ID with Dr. Robert Lalonde and a micro­scop­ic pho­tog­ra­phy work­shop by Stephanie Aitken.  
See the video about the project here: 
 

 
This map shows the loca­tion of all the Kelow­na Bee Ambas­sadors! Can you spot your sign? Share it with the world! 
 

 
The pro­gram is now closed, though watch for pos­si­ble Bee Ambas­sador future plans on this web­site!  Bor­der Free Bees is grate­ful for the sup­port of a Go Wild Com­mu­ni­ty grant from the World Wildlife Fund Cana­da for the funds that make this pro­gram possible. 
Kelowna Bee Ambassador Project