Last year, in the wake of massive honeybee die-outs, the Senate passed Resolution 580, “recognizing the importance of pollinators to ecosystem health and agriculture in the United States and the value of partnership efforts to increase awareness about pollinators and support for protecting and sustaining pollinators.”

The result is National Pollinator Week, which begins a week from Sunday.

Local New York State events include:

• Macedon
  The Wayside Garden Center will have guest speakers and an enclosed outdoor Butterfly Garden, full of butterfly-loving host and nectar trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals. A butterfly release is also a tentative plan for the event. For more information, please contact Trish at (585)223-1222 or trish@waysidegardencenter.com.
• Shawangunk
  Friends of the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuges will be holding a program on
  Saturday June 28th, Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge 9:30 am - 11:00 am on Hoagerburgh Road. All about honeybees, native bees and wasps, see specimens and nests: learn what the differences are and how each serves our environment, all ages. Program given by Marie Springer, a Beekeeper who is also participating in the national native bee survey with the USGS, sampling bees in NY, NJ and Pennsylvania. For information please call Marie Springer 201-660-8880.

Local New Jersey events include:

• Roseland
  The Essex County Environmental Center’s Bug Club will be hosting a BugFest on Saturday, June 28th, 2008 at the Essex County Environmental Center. This celebration will include a bee beard and bee bikini to showcase the ultimate in beekeeper high fashion. For more information on the BugFest or the success of our Bug Club (open to children 5-10) please don’t hesitate to contact David Alexander, dalexander@parks.essexcountynj.org.
• Sussex
  The Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge 1547 Rte 565, Sussex, NJ will be hosting a program on Saturday June 28th from 1:00 pm until 3:00pm all about honey bees, native bees and wasps, see specimens, and nests; learn what the differences are and how each serves our environment, all ages. Program given by Marie Springer, a Beekeeper who is also participating in the national native bee survey with the USGS, sampling bees in NY, NJ and Pennsylvania. For more information please call Marie Springer 201-660-8880.
• The Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge 1547 Rte 565, Sussex, NJ Sunday June 29th 9:30 am - 11:30 am Ken Witowski, naturalist, leads a butterfly walk on the Wallkill Refuge. Walk the refuge and see the greatest seasonal diversity of butterfly species for our Northeastern New Jersey area.

But you don’t have to wait until next week or do any traveling to educate yourself about the global crisis facing honeybees and the food producers they support. This week, NATURE will rebroadcast it’s Peabody Award-winning documentary, “Silence of the Bees,” the first in-depth look at the search to uncover what is killing the honeybee.

Tune in Sunday, June 15th at 8pm on Thirteen. See NATURE online for more information.

[via Bug Girl's Blog]