SATURDAY!!! Toxins and pollinators at Vt Law School

WHEN:     Saturday, April 18, 2015:   9:00 am – 12:00 noon and 1:30 to 4:00 pm
WHERE:   Chase Hall, Vermont Law School, South Royalton, VT
WHAT:     ” BEES, or not to BE”, a FREE public presentation at VT Law School

Honey bees are dying at alarming rates, with reported yearly loses of 20 to 50% in some apiaries. Without pollination, there is concern that our agriculture and our food production system will be dramatically and economically challenged.

Why is this happening to honey bees? Are other pollinators at risk? What can be done to support honey bees and our native pollinators? These are just a few of the questions that arise.

BEES, or not to BE is a day long program on Saturday, April 18 at Vermont Law School’s Chase Hall. It will address these and other questions involving honey bees and wild pollinators.   Sponsored by the Sierra Club of the Upper Valley and Vermont Law School’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems., it is free and open to the public.

The morning panel from 9:00 until 12:00 will focus on honey bees, recent research involving pesticides and honey bees as well as the challenges honey bees face with pathogens and climate change. It will also cover what beekeepers can do to keep their hives healthy and alive, and what beekeepers and others around the country are doing in support of all our pollinators.

The afternoon panel from 1:30 to 4:00 will describe our diverse native pollinators, their habits and habitats. It will offer ways we can encourage pollinators with native food plants and nest sites and describe how attracting beneficial insects can reduce pest populations naturally.

The public can attend either or both sessions. There will be a break between 12 and 1:30. Those attending the full day can bring a brown bag lunch or walk to a local eatery.

Morning Session Key Speakers: Mary Anne Frazier, Senior Extension Associate at Penn State Center of Pollinator Research, and Ross Conrad, author of Natural Beekeeping, a regular contributor to Bee Culture Magazine, and owner of Dancing Bees Apiary in VT.

Afternoon Session Key Speakers:  Jarrod Fowler, lecturer of Entomological Horticulture at the Stockbridge School for Agriculture, UMass Amherst, USDA NRCS Technical Service Provider of Pollinator Habitat Enhancement Plans for New England farmers, landowners, and wildlife; Lionel Chute, Director, Sullivan County Natural Resources, (NH) and District Manager of the Sullivan County Conservation District; Cat Buxton, consultant, teacher and community organizer promoting food system change through education and advocacy.

For more information contact Betsy Eldredge at betsy.eldredge@dartmouth.edu or Nina Swaim at nina.swaim@icloud.net.  Campus map at http://www.vermontlaw.edu/community/the-campus/map-directions