Bee City USA October E-News
AFFILIATE SPOTLIGHT
Carlinville, Illinois
A sign in one of Carlinville's gardens shares information about pollinators and the plants they rely on.
Carlinville, a small midwestern town of 5,800 residents in south central Illinois, became Illinois' first Bee City USA affiliate in 2019. Carlinville's Bee City USA committee created the overarching goal of becoming a “Mecca for Pollinators” by 2025, and they are well on their way. Carlinville's location on Old Route 66 brings visitors from around the world as they travel the Historical Mother Road from Chicago. “Make Carlinville Beautiful”, a small group of volunteers, plant and groom the newly established pollinator gardens planted in 2019–2020. Over six hundred native trees, shrubs, and perennials have been chosen and planted to entice the insects and birds in the region to stop by and stay awhile.  
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FUN FACT
Bee City USA affiliate Appleton, Wisconsin, and Bee Campus USA affiliate, Lawrence University, collaborated on an effort to encourage the community not to mow in the month of May to create habitat for pollinators.

Researchers conducted a study and recently published a paper on their findings. Homes that participated in the community science initiative No Mow May had more diverse and abundant flora, three times higher bee richness, and five times higher bee abundances than regularly mowed green spaces throughout the city.

Read the full paper here.
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MONTHLY ACTION ITEM
With fall in full swing many of us are facing the annual task of dealing with the leaves that fall on our properties.

Did you know that leaving those leaves where they fall is a great way to create habitat for overwintering invertebrates?

Whether you're looking for a way to support invertebrates or for a good excuse to skip leaf raking, consider leaving the leaves this fall!
OUR NETWORK IS GROWING!
Visit the current Bee City and Bee Campus pages to see the most up-to-date lists of our combined 220 city and campus affiliates in 42 states.

Welcome to the most recent affiliates to join our network:

  • Garner, North Carolina
  • Middletown, Maryland
  • Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Illinois
NOTEWORTHY NEWS
XERCES PRESENTATIONS & EVENTS
Building Pollinator Habitat in Towns and Cities: A Xerces Webinar Series
Join Xerces staff as they take a closer look at the needs of pollinators in each region of the country. Learn what plants pollinators need, how to provide nesting habitat, and what steps you can take to make change in your city.

These 1-hour programs are offered every first and third Thursday from October through January at 10:00 am PT / 11:00 am MT / 12 noon CT / 1:00 pm ET.

Join us Thursday October 8th for our webinar, Mobilizing your Community to Conserve Pollinators: An Introduction to Applying to Bee City USA. Affiliates will share how they learned about Bee City USA, who led the effort, any challenges they faced and how they overcame them, as well as advice for maintaining an enthusiastic and engaged committee. There will be time at the end for open Q&A.

Click here for more information and to register.
 
Please note that all of our webinars are recorded and posted on our YouTube channel.  
Bee City USA, An Initiative of the Xerces Society | beecityusa@xerces.org | www.beecityusa.org
Bee City USA is an initiative of the Xerces Society. Our conservation work is powered by our donors. Your tax deductible donation will help us to protect the life that sustains us.