Cathy Isom tells us about the small mid-western town hoping to create a lot of buzz for bees and other pollinators. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
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Folks living in the small town of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, have a big plan to attract more bees. Due to the declining bee population, flowers that were once visited by these tiny, buzzing, black and yellow beauties are becoming sparse. And bee kingdoms are diminishing. That’s a major concern for the global food supply, because honeybees and other pollinators help produce 19 billion dollars worth of agricultural crops in the U. S.
Wanting to do something about it, Cedar Rapids Park Superintendent, Daniel Gibbins, proposed an initiative that will increase local bee habitats by a thousand acres. The plan calls for 188 of those 1,000 acres to be seeded with dozens of native prairie grasses and wildflowers by the end of this spring. Gibbons had a team help identify unused public land where these flowers and grasses could grow. Such as parks, golf courses, sewage ditches and water retention basins. Cedar Rapids hopes this project will inspire other cities and towns to take action. Gibbins suggested even something as simple as creating a bee population in your own backyard in a small planter or windowsill. Planting colorful wildflowers that are native to you area that will attract bees throughout the spring, summer and fall. And, also avoid using any herbicides or insecticides at all. Or if necessary, using only at night when bees are not active.
I’m Cathy Isom…