I had the pleasure of attending a day long, educational event yesterday taught by the Xerces Society. My fee was paid for by the Kansas Soybean Commission because I am a beekeeper. Thank you KSC! The class was taught at this location, which is quite a gem and open to the public.
https://www.bakeru.edu/wetlands/ There were several other beekeepers in attendance, Master Gardeners, Master Naturalists, but mostly state employees that will go back to work with the farmers in the state. The state employees will educate farmers on how to incorporate pollinator friendly practices into their farms and how farmers can benefit with increased yields when they do so. Someone with the state spent time going through all the different state agencies that will assist farmers financially and educationally with transitions to pollinator friendly practices.
In the afternoon we broke up into groups, with a leader, and went outside to assess the area on how pollinator friendly it was. This is where years of beekeeping and working with honey plants put me at an advantage. You can't put value on something if you don't know what it is!
I plan to take this information to my local bee club and to World Wide Beekeeping!
One bit of wisdom some of us can incorporate into our yards and gardens regarding Monarchs: Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas are states are critical to the migration of the Monarch butterfly. The Monarch needs milkweed in the spring and nectar plants in the fall. Texans, especially, should plant nectar plants as well as milkweed. Planting milkweed has been the mantra of Monarch groups. They have discovered that migratory Monarchs need that food source on their way to overwinter in Mexico and that is equally important.
