Photo by Diyana Dimitrova/Shutterstock.
Did you hear the latest buzz? On Thursday, March 3, Austin City Council members unanimously voted to begin the process of declaring Austin a USA Bee City Affiliate.
The vote came after a swarm of support from citizen speakers, ranging from members of the University of Texas Beevo Beekeeping Society (which helped designate UT as a Bee Campus in 2020), to Erika Thompson, the TikTok famous founder of Texas Beeworks. (Thompson was one of our 12 Women Shaping Austin’s Future. Read more about here here.)
To become an official Bee City, Austin must submit an application to Bee City USA and pledge to maintain a list of commitments. These include establishing a Bee City USA committee to advocate for pollinators, increasing the abundance of native plants, adding nest sites on public and private lands, and reducing the use of pesticides, among others.
Pollinators like bees, butterflies, and moths have powerful economic and environmental impacts. Bee City USA says that pollinators are responsible for approximately one third of the food and drink we consume and are valued between $18 and $27 billion annually in the U.S. Up to 40 percent of pollinator species on earth may be at risk of extinction due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change in the coming years.
After explaining the crucial role of bees and other pollinators in Austin’s ecosystem, Seth Billingsley from Environment Texas declared that all council members in support of the resolution were “the bees knees.” They seemed to approve of that statement—the discussion concluded with all ten ceremoniously donning antennae, in an unusually cheerful display of camaraderie.
1 / Create your own colony with help from the Texas Honey Bee Farm
Buy all your beekeeping supplies and take classes on how to properly care for a colony here.
2 / Make your day sweeter with local honey
Support the father-and-son beekeeping duo who have been preserving Austin’s bee population since 1975.
3 / Rehome your bees responsibly
Instead of using harsh bee-killing chemicals, call Erika Thompson at Texas Beeworks to responsibly rehome any unwanted bees.
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1712 Rio Grande Street, Suite 100
Austin, TX 78701
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© 2022 Open Sky Media
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1712 Rio Grande Street, Suite 100
Austin, TX 78701
512-263-9133
© 2022 Open Sky Media
All rights reserved
Website by Web Publisher PRO
