Carson City forms bee committee, becomes ‘Bee City USA’

Carson City has designated the Carson City Bee City Committee — under the Great Basin Beekeepers of Nevada — the facilitating committee for Carson City’s efforts to engage the community in promoting pollinator conservation. This committee meets quarterly, with the first meeting scheduled for Jan. 9 at 10 a.m. at the Carson City Community Center, Bonanza Room and invites all Carson City residents to come to offer their ideas for pollinator-friendly initiatives. The more people and organizations involved, the sooner pollinator declines will be reversed.

The Carson City Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to become a Bee City USA. This completed the efforts of the Great Basin Beekeepers of Nevada and Carson City Parks, Recreation & Open Space to accomplish this certification.

Bee City USA is an initiative of The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a national nonprofit organization. Bee City USA’s mission is to galvanize communities to sustain pollinators by providing them with healthy habitat, rich in a variety of native plants and nearly free of pesticides. Imperiled pollinators like honey bees, bumble bees, butterflies, moths, bats, hummingbirds, and others are responsible for the reproduction of 90 percent of the world’s wild plant species and one in every three bites of food consumed.

Mayor Bob Crowell said, “You said it (pollinator conservation) was really important; it’s probably critically important. Pollinators are a critical component of the natural resources we have. The more information we can get out that bees are our friends, the better. And they really are our friend.”

For information about the Carson City Bee City USA program, contact Gillian Melor at buzzbuzzgbbn@gmail.com or visit www.carson.org.