Education + Resources

  

EDUCATE

Swarm educates about the importance of bees, and actions we can all take to help protect our pollinators. Together, we can create more pollinator habitat + urban bee sanctuaries.

Below are links to some educational resources, and please join the hive mind on Facebook: http://swarmportland.org/pages/education-resources.

ADVOCATE

Swarm's advocacy work focuses on city, state, and federal legislation that helps bees and reduces use of harmful pesticides and unsustainable practices. Our very first activity was a Bee Die In to raise awareness of the dangers of GMO neonic coated seeds.

 CREATE

Swarm also works to create more backyard bee habitat, which we do through partnerships and installations of our hexagon garden Bee Beds. These raised beds are hand-crafted raised cedar that nurture  pollinator-friendly plants.  

Proceeds from sales of honey and other items support our education and habitat work.

CROPS BEES POLLINATE

If you like these foods, you can thank a bee:

Almonds  Apples Apricots Avocadoes Blueberries Boysenberries Cherries Oranges Lemons Limes Cranberries Grapes Kiwifruit Macadamia nuts Nectarines Peaches Olives	Asparagus Broccoli Carrots Cauliflower Celery Cucumbers Cantaloupe Honeydew Onions Pumpkins Squash Watermelons Raspberries Strawberries Pears Plums Prunes Coffee	Alfalfa Hay Alfalfa Seed Cotton Lint Cotton Seed Legume Seed Peanuts Rapeseed (Canola) Soybeans Sugar Beets Sunflowers

 Report a Bee Die Off

Here is information about what to do if you ever see a bee die off. Please be sure to collect about 3 cups of bees to use as the sample for lab work.

http://pollinatorstewardship.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Quick-Guide-to-Reporting-a-Bee-Kill-Incident-Final-03062015.pdf

 RESOURCES

We've collected some interesting facts and background on bees:

Bees and Honey are Key to Plant and Human Development

The NPR show Splendid Table has a fascinating interview with author Thor Hanson about the importance of bees and honey – to not only our food supply, but their greater connection to the evolution of both plants and humans.

https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2018/08/23/the-nature-of-bees-and-honey-is-key-to-plant-and-human-development

 

Bees Find Better Habitat in Urban Jungle than Farm Country

http://blog.nwf.org/2015/06/bees-find-better-habitat-in-urban-jungle-than-farm-country/

Intimate Portraits of Bees

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/140114-bee-native-macro-photography-insects-science/#.VYsML0uyzlB

Portland Bans Neonic Pesticide

http://portlandtribune.com/sl/255603-126048-portland-bans-neonicotinoid-pesticide-

You Have a Hive Mind - What we can learn from bees

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/you-have-a-hive-mind/

 

Pollinator Congressional Taskforce Report on Pollinator Health

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/Pollinator%20Health%20Strategy%202015.pdf

List of Crops Bees Pollinate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crop_plants_pollinated_by_bees

You're Worrying About the Wrong Bees

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/youre-worrying-wrong-bees/

Protecting Bees & Pollinators From Pesticides

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pollinators/