It's been a tough couple years, ya'll. We've been feeling tired, anxious, and worried not only for ourselves, but for our poor planet. In many ways, it feels like environmental justice has lost its footing in a post-covid world. Many people are struggling to get back to where we were, and it feels, well, a bit hopeless. What can we do?

‍

We are excited to invite you all to a new workshop that aims to bring some lightness to the subject and make you bee-lieve again! What can we do in our busy bee lives to help the environment? What is the state of the world of pollinators? How can we take action locally, to hopefully help globally? What is the difference from a native bee and a honey bee? What plants are best for different pollinators? What does a day in the life of a bee look like? How can we support native pollinators and their ecosystems in various capacities?

‍
Although we can't promise we're going to save the world (maybe next year!), but we can promise that this workshop will help you understand a bit more about what is happening in your own backyard. Join the Bad Academy on a guided tour of East Vancouver (specifically Queen Elizabeth Park!) through the eyes of a native bee with a professional apiarist!

Outline for the day:

• Gather at Queen E Park
• Walk through gardens and parks to observe pollinators in their natural environment!
• End the tour with a locally-sourced picnic (we will ask for dietary requirements ahead of time), honey tasting, and decorate a bee house to keep! (cute fact: the reason we decorate the house is because bees like to orient their home with objects around it in the environment, so having different visuals on the house makes it easier for them to remember which nesting hole is theirs!)
• Questions and final thoughts
  

It's been a tough couple years, ya'll. We've been feeling tired, anxious, and worried not only for ourselves, but for our poor planet. In many ways, it feels like environmental justice has lost its footing in a post-covid world. Many people are struggling to get back to where we were, and it feels, well, a bit hopeless. What can we do?

‍

We are excited to invite you all to a new workshop that aims to bring some lightness to the subject and make you bee-lieve again! What can we do in our busy bee lives to help the environment? What is the state of the world of pollinators? How can we take action locally, to hopefully help globally? What is the difference from a native bee and a honey bee? What plants are best for different pollinators? What does a day in the life of a bee look like? How can we support native pollinators and their ecosystems in various capacities?

‍
Although we can't promise we're going to save the world (maybe next year!), but we can promise that this workshop will help you understand a bit more about what is happening in your own backyard. Join the Bad Academy on a guided tour of East Vancouver (specifically Queen Elizabeth Park!) through the eyes of a native bee with a professional apiarist!

Outline for the day:

• Gather at Queen E Park
• Walk through gardens and parks to observe pollinators in their natural environment!
• End the tour with a locally-sourced picnic (we will ask for dietary requirements ahead of time), honey tasting, and decorate a bee house to keep! (cute fact: the reason we decorate the house is because bees like to orient their home with objects around it in the environment, so having different visuals on the house makes it easier for them to remember which nesting hole is theirs!)
• Questions and final thoughts
  

Kristen Penhall (she/they) is an expert apiarist who has two certificates in beekeeping from Alberta and from B.C. She graduated from Farm School as part of the Sustainable Agriculture Program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and has a certificate from the Environmental Youth Alliance for their pollinator program. She is currently taking numerous continuing education courses on native bees and teaches through the KPU farm school program, the Sharing Farm, and is currently an Apprentice in the Master Mellitologist Program through the Oregon State University.