The Bayer Bee Care program and the Wildlife Society are working together toward the goal of planting 25 million pollinator-attractant wildflower seeds by the fall with the aim  of increasing nutrition options for honeybees.

The Wildlife Society will engage its nearly 10,000 members to identify key areas in the U.S. in need of more forage and announce where the millions of seeds will be planted at its 23^rd Annual Conference in Raleigh, N.C., in October. The planting will occur later in the fall, just in time for the pollinator buffet to bloom and establish spring 2017 forage.

 “Bees and other pollinators play a vital role in contributing to the outdoor landscapes that the Wildlife Society members work so hard to protect and preserve,” said Ken Williams, chief executive officer of the society. “As an organization committed to sustaining wildlife populations and habitats, the Wildlife Society is partnering with the Feed a Bee program to help combat one of the leading challenges facing honey bees today – lack of forage.”

“We’re excited to partner with the Wildlife Society for the Feed a Bee program’s first ever large-scale planting this fall,” said Dr. Becky Langer-Curry, program manager of the Bayer Bee Care Program. “Planting more flowers is something everyone can do to help address the challenges pollinators face today. Conducting a planting of this magnitude on a national scale will help not only to increase forage options but also to raise awareness of the important role pollinators play in our everyday lives.”

In addition to partnering for the premier planting event of the year, the Wildlife Society will involve its membership of scientists, managers, educators, consultants, students and other pollinator allies to distribute and plant 60,000 wildflower seed packets, contributing to even more forage across the nation.

Partnering with the Wildlife Society is one of many ways the Feed a Bee program is supporting pollinator and bee health awareness. In the year since the White House announced its National Pollinator Strategy, more than 500,000 people have engaged with Feed a Bee to plant 150 million flowers across the nation. Additionally, Feed a Bee has partnered with more than 100 organizations, including the Wildlife Society, from every sector for planting and education initiatives.