Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is holding their second annual Pollinator Expo on June 20, 2018. The event promises more than 30 informational tables from various organizations from across the state that will highlight the work they’re doing to help improve the pollinator population.
Danielle Trevino is an environmental protection specialist with Wright-Patt’s Civil Engineering division. She says the focus of the expo is an important one.
“One in every three bites of food we eat is courtesy of an insect pollinator and pollinator populations are on the decline throughout the country,” she says. “So we wanted to do our part to sustain pollinators and to help teach fixed why pollinators are important and why everybody can do to help.”
Trevino says last years event drew a few hundred adults and children who came out to see the exhibits and learn about pollinators.
Ryan Qualls is acting chief of interpretation at Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. He says attendees will gain important insight into small steps they can take to protect pollinators.
“Many of the organizations are coming out on the 20th, their focus is educating the public, sharing with the public how they can go about making changes, just if it’s in your own yard or just in the way that you shop, just get people thinking about this issue before become such a large problem there’s no solution.”
Further details on the Pollinator Expo provided by WPAFB.
During the expo “The Guardians” documentary will be shown every hour in the interpretation center at the Wright Brothers Memorial with guest speakers speaking at the top of every hour on a variety of topics related to pollinators. The guest speaker line up is as follows:
11 a.m.: Hope Taft, First Lady of Ohio from 1999-2007, heritage and pollinator garden at the Ohio governor's mansion.
Noon: Barbara Bloetscher, Ohio entomologist and apiarist, basic beekeeping and how to keep sustainable honey bee colonies.
1 p.m.: Dwight Wells, Propolis Project beekeeper and President of West Central Ohio Beekeepers Association, Honey Bee Farming.
2 p.m.: Dr. Hongmei Li-Byarlay, Professor at Central State University College of Science and Engineering, Agricultural Research and Development Program, stresses for colony survival.
At last year’s inaugural event, Wright-Patterson AFB became the first military installation to be designated as a Bee City USA. Bee City USA is a program for communities to pledge their commitment to reverse the threats currently facing pollinators and to raise awareness and enhance habitats for the bee population.