The University of Tennessee Bee Campus Committee, a group comprised of UT faculty, staff and students, in partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority and UT Gardens, invites communities across the state to celebrate national Pollinator Week at a series of Garden Buzz pollinator events on June 18, 2024.
Pollinator Week is an annual celebration in support of pollinator health, initiated and managed by Pollinator Partnership. This year’s theme looks towards the future: “Vision 2040: Thriving ecosystems, economies, and agriculture.” Similar to UTIA and TVA’s collaborative Garden Buzz celebrations last year, 2024 “pollinator parties” will offer participants opportunities to learn more about pollinators in Tennessee through educational activities and to start their own pollinator gardens with locally grown plants that help support a thriving ecosystem.
In 2020, UT Knoxville was recognized as an official Bee Campus. As a Bee Campus, the university is committed to promoting pollinator health and habitat conservation through its landscape management and educational opportunities. Garden Buzz is just one of the many initiatives that the UT Bee Campus Committee has planned to promote pollinator health in the community.
“Garden Buzz is an example of the great events the University of Tennessee offers across the state through Extension, AgResearch, Herbert College and other UT Institute of Agriculture programs,” said Jennifer Tsuruda, assistant professor and coordinator of the TN Master Beekeeping Program. “Whether your passion lies in pollinators, plants, or both, this event will help Tennesseans support pollinators, which themselves help support Tennesseans through pollination of agricultural crops and home gardens, and the production of local honey. We encourage people to come out and take a tour of the gardens to see pollinators in action, visit our educational tables, taste some delicious honey, and take home some pollinator plants to start their own pollinator garden to support pollinators across the state.”
“It’s important for everyone to do their part in supporting habitats for our pollinator friends,” said TVA Natural Resources Program Manager Suzanne Fisher. “TVA is proud to be a steward of a variety of pollinator areas in the region and to partner with UT in equipping the public with the resources and knowledge to help advance our shared goals.”
Free Garden Buzz events will be held in-person at each UT Gardens location across the state. Details are as follows:
• UT Gardens, Jackson – June 18, noon-1 p.m. CDT
• UT Gardens, Crossville – June 18, noon-2 p.m. CDT
• UT Gardens, Knoxville – June 18, 5:30-7 p.m. EDT
For more information about other Bee Campus initiatives, please visit tiny.utk.edu/bee-campus.
Learn more about TVA’s efforts to slow and reverse the decline in pollinator populations at TVA.com/pollinators.
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is comprised of the Herbert College of Agriculture, UT College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch, and UT Extension. Through its land-grant mission of teaching, research and outreach, the Institute touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. to Tennesseans and beyond. utia.tennessee.edu.