Have you heard the buzz? Cherry Hills Land Preserve is championing our community’s small but mighty members, the bees!
Announcing the 2021 Bee Project:
Some of Cherry Hills Village (CHV) smallest residents are also some of its most essential and unfortunately some of the most at risk. Cherry Hills Land Preserve (CHLP) is partnering with People and Pollinators Action Network, University of Denver, and other like-minded organizations on a pilot study to collect, collate, and ultimately share the results of actions, both large and small, across the community. We will be monitoring both public and private land to realize the overall health and population numbers of native bee species with the goal of increasing the population over time.
This initial work is part of 10+ year initiative that will put CHV at the forefront of efforts to create and protect pollinator’s paradises in the communities within the Greater Denver Metro Area, the Front Range, and beyond.
Why Bees?
Did you know there are over 900+ native, non-honey, bee species in Colorado alone? Bees are a key indicator species and these hidden helpers help us assess the overall health of our ecosystem. Think of them as akin to the canary in the mine—except when the buzzing stops it doesn’t matter if you make it to the open air—where the bees go our ecosystem follows.
Without pollinators, it’s not just honey that will be in short supply it’s not even just the local vegetation and landscapes that would be at risk. These are not small stakes. If the bees go, a vital and irreplaceable link in our food supply would be irrevocably lost.
We, as a community, have an opportunity to make changes, small and large, during the 2021 Bee Project to contribute to a baseline study sponsored by CHLP. The Bee Project will positively benefit the CHV ecosystem that supports and sustains us all. The data and results that this study will yield are set to serve as an example to other communities across Colorado, the West, the US, and beyond as they look to create a pollinators paradise of their own.
Collaborating with researchers, students and the community, we will track the bee population as we work collectively to increase the available habitat and food resources in the CHV community. The results of this study will also offer a roadmap for other communities for demonstrable results in stabilizing, restoring, and protecting native pollinator populations and the ecosystems they support.
The land we live on is the backdrop for our lives and for many of us the open spaces and sprawling expanses of CHV are a large part of why we choose to live here. This land is important, and bees are essential if we are to preserve and protect this landscape we hold so dear.
Like a beehive, we’re all in this together! Any contribution over the course of this study and beyond is a contribution to the whole. We look forward to working with all levels of contributors, volunteers and donors. It will take a village to save the bees. We are proud that the village in question is ours.
The CHLP Bee Project & Baseline Study
CHLP is committed to providing, protecting, and restoring native habitats and food sources that are essential for the survival of these essential, and often unseen, workers.
Beginning with this initial study, the goal of CHVLP is to raise funds, awareness, and community involvement in initiatives (be they small-scale or property-wide) that will benefit the bee community (and in turn, the greater Cherry Hills Village community as well).
JOIN US!
On our website www.cherryhillslandpreserve.org you can find out more about what you can do to get involved.
Given the unique challenges of 2020, CHLP has worked tirelessly to offer ways for our incredible community to come together (even if we’re six feet apart).
We invite you to join us for the official launch of the CHLP Bee Program at our inaugural Fall Festival on October 11th, hosted at Quincy Farm from 3-5 PM.
Join us as we celebrate the splendor of autumn and the start of this landmark initiative with Bee-Centric community activities and event, including:
• A behind-the-scenes look at honeybees and backyard beekeeping
• A Community Seed-Swap of preferred flowers and fauna for our pollinator pals
• A family-friendly scavenger hunt highlighting the health and habitat of Colorado’s “hidden helpers” (i.e. the 900+ native Bee Species that keep our plants and parks and pastures thriving)
• “Bees & Biodiversity in our Backyard” – a panel discussion led by experts in the field
For full details and to register to attend, please go to www.cherryhillslandpreserve.org.
Come see what all the Buzz is about!
On our website www.cherryhilllandpreserve.org you can find out more about how to get involved, future Bee Project Events and initiatives, full details about our DU Bee Baseline Study, information on our incredible partner organizations, community educational resources on all things Bees.
Who We Are
CHLP was founded in 2005 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit by a group of Village locals who recognized the extraordinary gifts of our community’s natural open lands and united in a desire to protect and preserve them.
We’re passionate about where we live and how the natural splendor of both public and private lands in CHV connects its residents in a way that transcends geography. We believe in room to roam, and that CHV thrives when conservation and community meet.
Welcome to the CHLP 2021 Bee Project—Let’s show the world what our village can do!