RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – With a round of 20 new grants, the $500,000 “Feed a Bee” grant program from Bayer has now reached 39 states.
Bayer, which has a major operation in RTP and does considerable bee research in North Carolina, handed out the latest grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 earlier this week. The grants are designed to encourage forage initiatives to support pollinators as Bayer seeks “new solutions to the problem of varroa mites and other factors affecting honey bee health.”
One of the grants went to the Queen City Bee project in Charlotte.
Bayer wants to fund programs in all 50 states before the end of 2018. Some 199 have been funded to date since the program was announced in 2017.
“It’s exciting to see this program continue to develop and impact communities around the country,” said Dr. Becky Langer, project manager of the Bayer North American Bee Care Program.
“For more than 30 years, Bayer has been actively involved in finding solutions for pollinator health, and this Feed a Bee initiative demonstrates organizations all over the country are looking for ways to become just as engaged in the quest to support a diverse food supply for honey bees and other important pollinators.”
Winners are selected by a steering committee.
Examples of programs include:
- Warrior Overwatch Inc., an organization in Georgia funded in this latest round, incorporates farming and gardening as therapeutic outlets for veterans with PTSD.
- The Collier County 4-H Association, located in Naples, Florida, will use its grant to create a pollinator garden where 4-H students and master gardeners can work and learn side by side.
- Other grantees will be expanding existing pollinator habitat and developing educational materials for their visitors on how planting forage can support pollinators, such as honey bees, birds and butterflies.
Learn more about the program online.
