When Samantha Gallagher was a child growing up in Maryland, her parents taught her to respect nature — particularly bees.
“Their attitude toward bees was ‘don’t bother them and they won’t bother you,’ so I grew up loving insects,” she says.
“The defining moment came in first grade. One day a bee got into our classroom at school and I was shocked and appalled to see all of the kids swatting at it angrily, trying to kill it.
“I managed to convince them to leave it alone and let it fly out on its own — which it did — and then the kids realized bees aren’t so bad. It quickly turned into most of the classroom becoming obsessed with bees, especially me. I remember checking bee books out from the library and learning all about pollination and then telling the other kids everything I was learning about how important bees are.
“To this day when I run into people I knew in elementary school, they remember me as ‘The Bee Girl.’ ”
Now 33 and living in Alexandria, Samantha cares for gardens of mostly native plants that attract bees and butterflies. She’s also designed a special “Protect Pollinators” license plate that features native bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and honeybees, as well as Virginia native plants and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Samantha hopes the plate will promote more awareness about the conservation of pollinators and the precious and essential role they play in our food supply and ecosystem.
For the plate to become available, Pollinator Plates must meet Virginia’s requirement of collecting 450 completed applications and plate fees by November, she says. Samantha is asking residents to register for the plates at http://www.pollinatorplates.com and complete the application process online or by postal mail.
The plates cost $10 annually, or $20 for a personalized plate. Once enough applications are collected, the plates will be introduced into the Virginia General Assembly. After the plates are passed into law, the DMV must approve the design.
Samantha also wants people to help pollinators in their yards. To do that, she recommends you:
Stop using pesticides and other chemicals on your property, and encourage friends, family, and neighbors to do the same.
Plant native flowering plants and other nectar sources for pollinators.
Allow bees to nest on your property by leaving exposed bare patches of ground for ground nesting bees, and by putting up a bee house for other native bees.
Support organic and/or local farms that don’t use pesticides, and look for local native plant sales.
“When I was out running recently, I saw a lot of pollinators on puddles from the rain here this morning, and it dawned on me — since it’s been so very hot and dry, they need water too.
“You can turn a sprinkler on for a few minutes a few times a day, or build a butterfly puddling area, or keep a pretty, shallow plate in your garden with some dirt and water for the bees and butterflies,” she says.
Contact Kathy at kvanmullekom@aol.com
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