Steps from the doors of our corporate office is a thriving bee garden. At Savannah Bee Company we use this garden to lead guests through classes and tours about the importance of pollinators like the honeybee to sustain life on the planet. The garden that surrounds the hives is planted with blooming flora for the honeybees and other pollinators who visit there.
This week we celebrated Pollinator Week by making flower crowns for our own human hive. Snipping flowers from our garden we created these crowns of beauty to honor the pollinators-bees, birds, bats, butterflies, beetles, and other small mammals that are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food we eat
Pollinator Week Flower Crown (flowers + love) makes 1 crown
What you need:
- Wired twine (length will depend on head size)
- Floral tape (we used brown to match the wired twine)
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Garden snips or scissors
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Assorted garden flowers (we used a mix of herbs and flowers cut from our bee garden).
What to do:
1. Make the Crown Base: Cut a length of the wired twine that is long enough to go from ear to ear and add 8 extra inches. Working with the last 4-inches of wire on each end, make a loop(this is where the ribbon will thread through) on both ends and twist the wire together. Cover the twisted area with floral tape (floral tape will stick when you pull it).
2. Make Tiny Bouquets: Cut short pieces of your flowers and create a number of small “bouquets”. Wrap floral tape around the ends of each wee bouquet (this will keep the flowers together and will help keep them fresh).
3. Add Flowers to Crown: Start at one end of the crown just after the ribbon loop and connect the small bouquets to the crown with floral tape working only end to end in one direction around the crown. Continue to connect the bouquets to the crown until it is full.
4. Add Ribbon and Celebrate: Cut long lengths of ribbon and tie on both loops of your crown. We cut two lengths for each side–one to use to tie onto your head and one to blow in the wind. Cut as many as you like in varying lengths!
As we celebrate Pollinator Week around the office with our flower crowns, we also want to remind you how you can plant a garden to help save the pollinators.
Plant for pollinators
- plant window boxes or fields
- utilize plants native to your area
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plant in clusters to create a “target” for pollinators to find
- plant for continuous bloom throughout the growing season
- select a site that is removed from the wind, has at least partial sun, and can provide water
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reduce or eliminate all pesticides (where possible, avoid pest problems by burying infested plant residues, removing pest habitat, and planting native plants that encourage natural enemies of pests).
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provide additional water for the pollinators with bird baths or other shallow dishes of water throughout your garden
- make a flower crown and celebrate the pollinators
#savethebees
