with Emony Nicholls

In this bee-loving workshop we will explore the importance of our native bees’ incredible pollinating powers to our local ecosystems and agricultural systems. We will look at the lifecycle of the mason bee, the challenges they face and how best to support them through plants and nesting boxes. Discussing the seasonal responsibilities of the mason bee keeper, when and how to release them and what to watch for over the summer season will also be covered.

And finally, we will also look at the different styles of mason bee nesting boxes or houses available, how to select the best one and where to place them in the garden to meet yours and the bee’s needs. Come and learn how to support these tiny, important and beautiful little creatures!

HCP Members $30/Non-Members $40
Register ONLINE or call 250 479 6162

Instructor Bio: Emony Nicholls

Emony has worked as a biologist, an environmental consultant, entrepreneur and civil servant for the last 25 years. For seven of those years, she owned and operated a native plant nursery in Ontario designing and providing plants for ecological restoration projects. Her graduate research was on the relationship between pollinators and plants and how it drives their evolutions. As part of this work, she did taxonomic identification of the native pollinators and fell in love with their diversity, abilities and individual beauty. She is now on a mission to educate others about them in the hopes that they will fall in love – and support them too! She recently left the provincial government as a  biologist and now lives on Salt Spring Island doing more native bee education and starting her own business again bringing her love of native plants and native pollinators together!