USDA is celebrating National Pollinator Week, June 15-21, with several events on June 19. Join USDA on Friday, June 19, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., to learn about bees, birds, bats and other pollinating animals at the sixth annual Pollinator Festival outside USDA Headquarters along 12th Street in Washington, DC. More than 14 USDA agencies, other federal departments and partners will celebrate the significance of pollinators.
Pollinators like honey bees, native bees, birds, bats, butterflies and other animals perform vital but often unnoticed services. They pollinate crops like apples, blueberries, strawberries, melon, peaches, potatoes, vanilla, almonds, coffee and chocolate. Without pollinators our diets would lack diversity, flavor and nutrition. An estimated $15 billion worth of crops, including more than 90 fruits and vegetables are pollinated by honey bees alone.
Festival highlights include viewing live honey bees in a glass enclosed observation hive with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Bee Research Lab; sampling honey from the People’s Garden Apiary; learning how to install a bat house with the Forest Service; seeing live bats – including the world’s largest bat species – up close with Organization for Bat Conservation; getting tips for creating a pollinator friendly backyard with Natural Resources Conservation Service; and much more.
USDA has also organized its first-ever Pollinator Week Night Bat Walk on Friday, June 19, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Attendees should meet at the People’s Garden (corner of 12th Street and Jefferson Drive, SW) right outside the Smithsonian Metro stop.
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