Kids & Family
Rare Chance to Meet California Native Bees
A city of El Cerrito news release says UC Berkeley Prof. Gordon Frankie, an expert on native California bees, will bring in his "infectious passion" in a free presentation at City Hall Monday on these marvelous stars of the garden.
Editor's note: This guest feature by Judith Frank of El Cerrito describes the upcoming free presentation by UC Berkeley native California bee expert, Gordon Frankie.
Have you ever seen a bee asleep in a flower? Or run into a nest of bees in the soil? If so, they are bees native to California. Some 1,600 of the 4,000 bee species in the USA reside in our state. Our native bees lead fascinating lives and work very hard as pollinators, so we have reason to appreciate them.
Maybe we haven’t heard much about California native bees because they lead solitary lives, rather than living in hives, so people are unable to cart them around the state to pollinate crops.
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These bees have been the subject of study for years by Professor Gordon Frankie, who has a native bee research garden at UC Berkeley.
On August 20th, you can hear Dr. Frankie, UC Berkeley entomologist and native bee expert, discuss the marvels of our native bees and their contributions to a healthy ecosystem. With inspiring enthusiasm, Dr. Frankie will describe the lives and pollinating prowess of these marvelous creatures. He’ll also talk about the plants, habitat and gardening methods that prompt these little-known native bees to choose your garden as their home.
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Please join us as we learn from a renowned specialist. Dr. Frankie’s talk will be a discovery for nature enthusiasts, gardeners and anyone who wants to know more about native pollinators alighting outside our doors.
This event is presented by the City of El Cerrito Environmental Quality Committee (EQC) as part of their effort to educate, inspire and encourage community participation in a wide range of environmental quality and sustainability issues.
Event Details: Free, Monday, August 20 at 7 p.m. at the El Cerrito City Hall, 10890 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530. For information and to RSVP, call the City of El Cerrito Environmental Services Division at (510) 215-4318. This event is wheelchair accessible
A flyer about Dr. Frankie’s talk about California Native Bees is available on the City of El Cerrito’s website at http://el-cerrito.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1497. For more information about Dr. Frankie and his work, see: http://nature.berkeley.edu/urbanbeegardens/index.html.
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El Cerrito Patch welcomes guest features and columns from members of the community. Those interested in contributing can write to elcerrito@patch.com.
