West Seattle Bee Garden

Mission

Dedicated to providing pollinator friendly habitat, and educating the Seattle Community about the vital role of pollinators. The WSBG provides educational programming, a pollination garden, and a beehive enclosure with associated signage to promote learning - all within the High Point Commons P-Patch.

Description

The West Seattle Bee Garden (WSBG) serves as a space where community members and visitors are welcome to come visit bees, learn about the role of all pollinators in the health of plants and our food supply, and enjoy the surrounding pollination garden, P-Patch, adjacent park and playground. The enclosure surrounding the beehives contains seven large educational signs and facts about honey bees, and several plant specific signs serve to illustrate the role of the pollination garden. The WSBG offers a variety of programming, including educational field trips with schools and groups who are interested in learning more about pollinators. During these events, beekeepers talk to the groups about honey bees, pollination (what it is and why it's important), as well as the vital role all pollinators play in the health of our ecology. The beekeepers are then able to open a hive and show the participants frames of bees from behind the safety of a plexiglass wall.

The idea of the West Seattle Bee Garden (WSBG) was proposed to the West Seattle community in the spring of 2012. After the involvement of more than 100 volunteers and thousands of volunteer hours, the space came to life in the Spring of 2013 - at the First Annual West Seattle Bee Festival. The garden is maintained by ongoing local volunteer efforts, creating additional community by gardening and working together.

The beehives are visible at all times through the plexiglass walls of the surrounding enclosure, where forager honeybees can be seen leaving the hive and often returning with bright yellow and orange pollen in the pollen baskets on their hind legs. The surrounding garden and P-Patch also host small butterfly and mason bee habitats. Our goal for the pollination garden has been to include a variety of pollinator friendly plants that bloom at various times, creating a consistent supply of nectar and pollen.

The space is enjoyed by a diverse crowd and includes text written in English, Somali, Khmer and Vietnamese. The WSBG resides in the High Point neighborhood, and is part of the High Point Commons P-Patch - where a considerable number of residents and P-Patch gardeners are refugees from Somalia, Vietnam and Cambodia.

We have been delighted to find that many classes are now incorporating units about pollination into their curriculum - many utilizing content from our website for remote learning, or educational bee kits we have delivered throughout the community. The WSBG hosts around 30-40 groups per year. Some groups and classrooms come on their own (without a formal presentation) to visit the bees and plants, eat lunch and play in local park. Other local groups have also enthusiastically come to help out by organizing planting parties in the pollination garden.

The garden suffered a little during COVID, but our volunteer efforts have found new inspiration and leadership, gathering both community and gardening effort to fill the West Seattle Bee Garden with life and beauty again. We're excited to see this effort take shape. Every dollar donated will contribute to materials necessary to help the West Seattle Bee Garden thrive.

Recognition

We would like to that the volunteers who have helped create and support our garden, as well as the following organizations for their support:

High Point Open Space Association
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and P-Patch Program
West Seattle Garden Tour
Puget Sound Beekeepers Association
The Honeybee Conservancy