THURSDAY, FEB. 12 at 6 P.M.

Double Feature/Kevin Huntley, “The Bug Guy”/Pete Haggard & Jane Monroe, authors of “Rewilding: Native Gardening for the Pacific Northwest and North Coast

Humboldt County Department of Agriculture

6:00–6:30 PM: Dedicated Q&A Session. Bring your questions! We’ll focus on practical ways to help our honey bees right now, plus discuss options for sourcing spring queens and package bees to strengthen local colonies.
#1: Pete Haggard and Jane Monroe Authors of the newly released book Rewilding: Native Gardening for the Pacific Northwest and North Coast, Pete and Jane will share insights on transforming our yards and gardens into welcoming habitats for a diverse array of native bees (and other pollinators). Their beautifully illustrated book provides detailed photos, plant descriptions, and actionable tools to create wildlife-friendly spaces using native species suited to our region. Books will be available for purchase at the special price of $25 – a great opportunity to take home this valuable resource!
#2: Kevin Huntley: Kevin will dive into the fascinating world of bee anatomy and their remarkable “superpowers.” He’ll explain how bees use their ocelli (simple eyes) for navigation, demonstrate a fun “magic potion” trick to illustrate how bees perceive different light spectrums (including ultraviolet), and touch on their evolutionary ancestry shared with wasps and ants. In the second half, he’ll spotlight notable bee species in our local area, with special emphasis on the Silver Bee (Habropoda miserabilis, also known as the silver digger bee). This rare, ground-nesting pollinator thrives in our coastal dune ecosystems and has made inspiring comebacks in restored habitats after declines from invasive plants. Kevin will cover historic and ongoing preservation efforts in our region to protect these vital “buzz heroes.”

There’s so much to celebrate and learn about our buzzing neighbors – from everyday actions we can take at home to the wonder of native species recovery in our dunes and gardens.

We hope you’ll join us for this engaging program. Bring your curiosity, questions, and enthusiasm for pollinators!

DATES/TIMES

• Thursday, Feb. 12 : 6-8:30 p.m.

WHERE

• Humboldt County Department of Agriculture

PRICE

• Free