The Kelowna Nectar Trail Project was a wild success! In the spring of 2017, 104 private homes, business, churches, and schools in the Mission neighbourhood of Kelowna signed on to supporting wild pollinators by planting and maintaining a minimum one-square meter garden of pollinator-friendly flowers. The Kelowna Nectar Trail is a reality: a 7.4 km series of flowery stepping stones through the south Mission neighbourhood that helps pollinators move safely through the urban landscape.
Check our video of the project here.
For a map of the trail see: http://borderfreebees.com/kelowna-nectar-trail/
The success of the Kelowna Nectar Trail was celebrated at the Kelowna Pollinator Picnic on Sunday, June 25th at Summerhill Winery in Kelowna. We were delighted to have an observation hive brought by beekeeper John Gates, a wonderful bee art project created by artist Rhonda Neufeld, and fabulous live music by the Sunday Morning String Band.
The Nectar Trail Sessions held in the spring of 2017 helped generate and interest and develop skills for people who want to save the bees. Thee following free workshops were held as part of The Kelowna Nectar Trail Sessions. See video links to some of the talks.
Growing Water-wise Plants for Pollinators in the Okanagan
Eva Antonijevic (Okanagan Xeriscape Association)
This talk was held on Saturday March 4th, 2017 at the Okanagan Regional Library Mission Branch on Saturday March 4th 2017
Click here to see the video if you missed the talk!
Bee-coming a Part of the Solution: Gardening with Native Species for the Nectar Trail
Saturday April 1st, 1-4pm
Tanis Gieselman, MSc.
(SeedsCo. Community Conservation)
Okanagan Regional Library Mission Branch,
4105 Gordon Drive, Kelowna BC
Tanis will introduce you to native Okanagan wildflowers, and how to include them in your yard to support wild bees. You will learn about seed collecting, storage, and conservation, the ecology of growing native plants, and have the opportunity to do a garden plan and take home some seeds.
Growing Without Pesticides: A Biodynamic Approach
EarthDay – Saturday April 22nd, 1-4pm
Gabe Cipes (Summerhill Winery)
Summerhill Winery Biodynamic Gardens, 4870 Chute Lake Road
Bee ID Workshop & Introduction to Pollinator Citizen Science App
Saturday May 13th, 1-4pm
Erin Udal & Geoff Campbell (Border Free Bees)
Okanagan Regional Library Mission Branch, 4105 Gordon Drive, Kelowna BC
Contact Border Free Bees to register for becoming a part of the Nectar Trail by planting a garden or letting us adopt your garden! Use the contact link on this website or contact Nancy Holmes at nancy.holmes@ubc.ca.
The Kelowna Nectar Trail is funded by Telus’s Go Wild Community Grant program as well as Border Free Bees and the Public Art Pollinator Pasture research projects at UBC. The Kelowna Nectar Trail Sessions are supported by the Okanagan Regional Library, the Okanagan Xeriscape Association and Summerhill Winery.
