Bee ID with Dr. Robert Lalonde
Saturday, May 5, 2018, 1 - 4pm UBC Okanagan - SCI 142
Learn to identify many of the hundreds of native bee species around us here in the Okanagan. From the lab to the field, entomologist Bob Lalonde will provide us with ways to identify the different types of pollinating insects. Bob is a fun and incredibly knowledgeable teacher and you will leave with new insight and skills to help enjoy our local pollinators, impress your friends and engage in citizen science!
Pasture Stewardship in Kelowna!
Saturday, April 21, 2018, 9am - 2pm Kelowna Public Art Pollinator Pasture (near Brent’s Grist Mill)
Everyone is welcome to come to the pollinator pasture for a seeding and spring growth day! We will have a major day for prepping, seeding, mulching and protecting plants on site. We will provide a lunch for people who will be there over the noon hour. Bring family and friends and stay for one hour or the whole time. Bring work gloves and ideally a good garden rake. Wheelbarrows, shovels, and trowels are also useful if you can bring them.
Bee Ambassador Info Night
Wednesday April 11, 2018, 7 - 8:30pm Downtown Branch Okanagan Regional Library - 1380 Ellis St, Kelowna, BC
Become a Bee Ambassador in the City of Kelowna! Find out what you need to know to become a Bee Ambassador! Get expert advice about how to support pollinators from Border Free Bees and their partners: the Okanagan Collaborative Conservation Program, Seeds Co Community Conservation, The Okanagan Master Gardeners, and the Okanagan Xeriscape Association. And learn about mason bees with artist Lori Mairs. All welcome. Free of charge.
WorkBee 2 - Pine Needle: Coil
6 - 8 pm, Tuesday August 29, 2017 Brent’s Grist Mill Heritage Park, 2136 Leckie Pl, Kelowna, BC
Learn to coil pine needles using stinging nettle fibre as thread. Guest: Cellist guitarist Nils Loewen.
“Bee-Decking the Meadow” Workbee 1: Local Fibre Harvest
9:30 – 11:30 am, Friday August 4, 2017 Curly Frog Farm, Kelowna BC
Harvest and gather nettle, as well as grasses and pine needles, for processing. This event is part of Bee-Decking the Meadow: A Community Eco-Art Installation with artist Jaymie Johnson. Jaymie, with community members, will make sculptural works resembling bumblebee nests using hand-made nettle fibre rope and coiling of pine needles and wild grasses at Kelowna’s Brent’s Grist Mill Heritage Park Pollinator Pasture. For more information contact [email protected]
Kelowna Pollinator Picnic
11:00am-3:00pm, June 25, 2017 Summerhill Winery Heritage Lawn, 4870 Chute Lake Road, Kelowna Event Poster
The success of Kelowna’s first nectar trail will be celebrated. Border Free Bees is organizing the Pollinator Picnic to raise awareness about wild pollinators and to celebrate the completion of Kelowna’s first Nectar Trail. The family-friendly picnic will include educational booths and displays, music, a bee observation hive, and activities. Bring a picnic lunch. A Swarm in June, a special community art creation by Armstrong artist Rhonda Neufeld, will help entertain kids of all ages.
Bee ID Workshop & Introduction to Pollinator Citizen Science App with Erin Udal and Geoff Campbell
1-4pm - Saturday May 13, 2017 Okanagan Regional Library Mission Branch - 4105 Gordon Drive Kelowna, BC Register Here
Identify local bee species and learn to use science tools that will help track them!
Growing Without Pesticides: A Biodynamic Approach with Gabe Cipes
1-4pm - Saturday April 22, 2017 Summerhill Winery Biodynamic Gardens - 4870 Chute Lake Road, Kelowna, BC Register Here
Gabe Cipes (Summerhill Winery) will give us a hands on introduction to growing without pesticides in the Okanagan using a Biodynamic approach. We will be meeting outside come rain or shine, so dress for the weather!
The Public Art Pollinator Pasture: Meadow Building and Stewardship Event
9:30am-12pm - Saturday April 8, 2017 Brent's Grist Mill Heritage Park - 2136 Leckie Place, Kelowna, BC
Volunteer to help prep and weed the Pollinator Pasture and get expert advice about meadow-building and stewardship of natural places in the Okanagan. Bring appropriate gear, good shoes, shovels, and weeding implements. We provide lunch! Sign up at [email protected]
Bee-coming a Part of the Solution: Gardening with Native Species for the Nectar Trail with Tanis Gieselman
1-4pm - Saturday April 1, 2017 Okanagan Regional Library Mission Branch - 4105 Gordon Drive, Kelowna, BC Register Here
Tanis will introduce you to native Okanagan wildflowers, and how to include them in your yard to support wild bees. You will learn about seed collecting, storage, and conservation, the ecology of growing native plants, and have the opportunity to do a garden plan and take home some seeds.
Growing Water-Wise Plants for Pollinators in the Okanagan with Eva Antonijevic
10am-12pm - Saturday March 4, 2017 Okanagan Regional Library Mission Branch - 4105 Gordon Drive, Kelowna, BC Register Here
Eva Antonijevic is a registered professional biologist and the Program Director of the Okanagan Xeriscape Association. This presentation will illustrate the basic principles of how to create a diverse, drought-tolerant and pesticide-free habitat with plants that bloom from spring to fall to provide nectar and pollen throughout the season for all beneficial insects.
Mark Winston Lecture and Paper Bee Swarm
7-8:30pm - Thursday October 6, 2016 Kelowna Art Gallery - 1315 Water St, Kelowna, BC Register Here
Mark Winston, author of the Governor General award winning book Bee Time: Lessons From the Hive, will give a talk to conclude the exhibition For All Is For Yourself and the public will be invited to take the paper bees embedded with Gaillardia seed off the walls of the gallery to plant in their own gardens. Free admission. Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Create an Insect Hotel / Wild Bienenhaus
10am-4pm - Saturday October 1, 2016 Kelowna Art Gallery - 1315 Water St, Kelowna, BC Learn More
Help us build a home for pollinators and pest controllers. Many solitary bees and other insects live in bee hotels all over the world. This one is being built to be permanently placed on site at Brent’s Grist Mill Heritage site as part of Culture Days and The Kelowna Public Art Pollinator Project. Free Admission.
Bees Live Here
1-4pm - Sunday August 21, 2016 Kelowna Art Gallery - 1315 Water St, Kelowna, BC
Did you know many bees actually live in the ground? And that healthy garden homes for bees have some special requirements? Let’s make some special signs to mark where we find bee homes in our yards and to let our neighbours and friends know we have Bee Friendly Gardens.
Claudette Lamont Talk
7-8:30pm - Thursday July 21, 2016 Kelowna Art Gallery - 1315 Water St, Kelowna, BC
Claudette and her spouse, Eian, will share their vast knowledge and experience of over 50 years of beekeeping in the Okanagan. She will share photographs, discuss honeybees, the land and the changing climate they have experienced farming on one site for many years together.
For All is For Yourself Opening Reception
2-4pm - Saturday July 9, 2016 Kelowna Art Gallery - 1315 Water St, Kelowna, BC
Bees and Eco Art: A New Kelowna Project Lunchbox Speaker Series Featuring Nancy Holmes
12-1pm - March 2, 2016 Kelowna Art Gallery - 1315 Water St, Kelowna, BC
Launch of The Pollinizing Sessions
7pm - 8:30pm, November 24, 2015 Okanagan Regional Library, 1380 Ellis St, Kelowna, BC
