[Pollinator] FW: Happy National Pollinator Week! Here are all the details about USDA's Pollinator Week Festival

[Tom Van Arsdall]

Tom

Hi – Please help us spread the word to your family, friends and colleagues
about the exciting events we have planned for tomorrow. We’re looking
forward to seeing you all! Thank you for making this event so great!

 

It’s
<https://peoplesgarden.usda.gov/sites/default/files/national_pollinator_week
_2017.pdf> National Pollinator Week! Bee with us tomorrow (Rain or Shine!)
for a fun-filled day to celebrate the hardest working friends of farmers and
consumers at the eighth annual
<https://www.facebook.com/events/190724638123463/?acontext=%7B%22action_hist
ory%22%3A%22%5B%7B%5C%22surface%5C%22%3A%5C%22page%5C%22%2C%5C%22mechanism%5
C%22%3A%5C%22page_upcoming_events_card%5C%22%2C%5C%22extra_data%5C%22%3A%5B%
5D%7D%5D%22%2C%22has_source%22%3Atrue%7D> Pollinator Week Festival on
Friday, June 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside USDA Headquarters in
Washington, D.C.!

 

Special highlights include:

*	See live bats from around the world, including local insect-eating
bats, leaf-nosed bats from South America and giant flying fox bats from
Africa and Asia. Learn how bats are very important to ecosystems by eating
pesky insects and spreading seeds or pollinating flowers of plants like
mango, banana and pineapple.

*	Meet beekeepers from
<https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md/beltsville-agricultur
al-research-center/bee-research-laboratory/> USDA-ARS Bee Research
Laboratory and watch honey bees at work in an observation hive. Learn about
pollinated foods like raspberries and taste honey from local hives including
the People’s Garden Apiary, US National Arboretum, DC Water, and Bee
Research Lab at
<https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2017-vegucation-class-sc
hedule.pdf> VegU in the USDA Farmers Market. 

*	Explore the
<https://peoplesgarden.usda.gov/usda-headquarters-peoples-garden> People’s
Garden to collect and identify insects. Take home pollinator-friendly plants
like milkweed, oregano or bee balm to plant for pollinators. 

*	Enjoy Free Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream! Honey bees pollinate many of the
ingredients used to make ice creams and sorbets. To spread their love for
honey bees Nestlé Dreyer’s Ice Cream is donating free cups of Strawberry Ice
Cream and Pineapple Coconut Ice Cream – both bee-dependent flavors – to
festival and bat walk attendees. Supplies are limited.

*	Shop the  <https://www.usda.gov/content/usda-farmers-market> USDA
Farmers Market during the day (9 a.m. – 2 p.m.) and in the evening (4 p.m. –
8 p.m.). Signs will highlight which food we’d be without if not for the hard
work of honey bees, birds, butterflies, bats and other pollinators. 

*	Walk with Bats! Meet at 8 p.m. at the corner of 12th Street and
Jefferson Drive, SW in Washington, D.C. to attend a special "bat walk"! The
walk discusses local DC bats, how they navigate the night skies, avoid
predators and catch insects. Also, test out electronic bat detectors that
pick up the ultrasonic calls that bats emit to navigate the darkness.

 

Exhibitors include:

 

USDA Agencies and Initiatives

Agricultural Marketing Service

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Beltsville Agricultural Research Center Bee Research Laboratory

Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion

Farm Service Agency

Natural Resources Conservation Service

The People’s Garden

U.S. Forest Service

 

Other Federal and State Departments

DC Water

Department of Energy and the Environment

Smithsonian Natural Museum of Natural History

United States Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

 

Partners

Million Pollinator Garden Challenge

National Honey Board

National Wildlife Federation

Organization for Bat Conservation

Pollinator Partnership

University of Maryland Extension

 

The Pollinator Festival is free, fun and educational for both youth and
adults. For more information follow  <https://twitter.com/PeoplesGarden>
@PeoplesGarden on Twitter. Sign language interpreters will be present all
day in the yellow information tent in the USDA Farmers Market.

 

See you there! 

 



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