[Pollinator] Pollinator Week Getting Lcoal Press - Delaware, Cape Gazette

[Ladadams at aol.com]

Pollinator Week June 22-28 
proclaimed by Gov. Ruth Ann  Minner   
 

Gov. Ruth Ann  Minner has proclaimed the week of June 22 - 28 as Pollinator 
Week in  Delaware. In a statement, Minner said, “Our bees, butterflies, birds  
and other pollinators are essential to our food supply and to  maintaining our 
environmental quality. I hope that everyone will  become more aware of the 
importance of pollinators and help protect  them and their habitats.”
Michael  Scuse, secretary of agriculture and the Plant Industries staff of  
the Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA), invite the public to  celebrate 
Pollinator Week at the Delaware Department of Agriculture,  2320 S. Dupont 
Highway, by visiting DDA’s pollinator garden on Open  Garden Day Thursday, June 
26.   The Open Garden Day  schedule is as follows:
• 10:30 -  11:15 a.m.- Pollinator Garden Tour and dedication; ribbon cutting 
by  agriculture secretary; the unveiling of future Livable Landscape  design 
for DDA; and a monarch butterfly release.
• 11:15 a.m.  to 12:30 p.m. Bees, Flowers & Butterflies, including The ways 
of  honey bees - Delaware Beekeepers Association; Sunflowers - Dr. Susan  Yost, 
Delaware State University; Farming for Native Bees - Heather  Harmon, DDA 
Plant Industries Section; Delaware’s butterflies -  Ashley Ward, DDA Forest 
Service; Honey tasting and the mysteries of  mead - John Talkington, mead maker.
• 12:30 -  1:30 p.m.- Laboratory Tours - DDA’s Seed Inspection and  
Certification - Dick Goerger, seed lab supervisor, Plant Industries  Section; Test 
your seed IQ! State Insect Survey Lab - Jim Kroon,  Cooperative Agricultural Pest 
Survey, Plant Industries  Section.
Refreshments  will be served, including Delaware strawberries and blueberries 
 donated by Fifer Orchards, Magee Farms and Blueberry Lane  Farm.
Pollinators  are among the hardest-working creatures on earth. Most of the  
200,000 species that act as pollinators are insects, and bees are  the premier 
pollinators. These creatures transfer pollen grains from  flower to flower of 
the same species so the plants can set seeds and  fruit. Local food supply and 
the quality of life would be seriously  impacted if pollinators were lost. 
For example, 75 percent of the  world’s flowering plant species rely on 
pollinators. Also, 130 of  the crop plants grown in the United States are pollinated 
by bees.  The rich biodiversity in local forests and other natural areas is  
dependent both directly and indirectly upon native  pollinators.
In spring  2007 in an effort to protect and preserve pollinators, DDA began a 
 Pollination Garden Project that is being unveiled for the public  June 26. 
In the garden are nectar- and pollen-rich native plants to  attract bees, 
butterflies and other beneficial insects. Native  plants tend to be low maintenance 
and hardy, because they are  adapted to the local region.
The  Pollinator Garden has also been designated as an Official Monarch  
Waystation (No. 1172, www.monarchwatch.org). Monarch waystations are  a nationwide 
system that provides habitat for monarch butterflies to  stop along their 
migratory route to Mexico. 
These  habitats provide nectar sources and the required host plant of  
milkweed, so butterflies can lay their eggs.
The  Department of Agriculture has also initiated a project to catalog  and 
conserve the native bees in Delaware’s vine crop production  areas. More 
information about the Farming for Native Bees Project  can be found at 
_http://dda.delaware.gov/plantind/pollinator.shtml_ 
(http://dda.delaware.gov/plantind/pollinator.shtml) 
The garden  project is one of many DDA pollinator initiatives. Information on 
 other initiative will be presented during the Bees & Butterflies  talks and 
demonstrations and laboratory tours. 
.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Laurie Davies Adams
Executive Director
Pollinator  Partnership 
423 Washington Street, 5th floor
San Francisco, CA  94111
415-362-1137
LDA at pollinator.org

_www.pollinator.org_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 

_www.nappc.org_ (http://www.nappc.org/) 

National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2008. 
Beecome  involved at _www.pollinator.org_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 



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