The City of Gastonia was officially the 74th Bee City USA affiliate in the nation. Gastonia City Council adopted the Bee City USA Resolution on September 4, 2018.
Bee City USA-Gastonia is required to hold an annual celebration each May promoting pollinator habitat plantings and distributing information about bees and the important role they play in our environment. The City will also be establishing Landscape Plans and review our pesticide management policies and practices as they relate to pollinator conservation. A Bee City Committee has been established with Keep Gastonia Beautiful.
Yearly Proclamation for National Pollinator Week
Beetopia
Miss Polly Nator
Miss Polly Nator is available for school and educational programming throughout the year.
Fun facts about bees:
- Approximately one-third of the food we eat is the result of honey bee pollination
- In their 6-8 week lifespan, a worker bee will fly the equivalent distance of 1 ½ times the circumference of the Earth.
- A single bee will produce only about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.
- Honey bees don’t sleep. Instead, they spend their nights motionless, conserving energy for the next day’s activities.
- A single ounce of honey could fuel a honey bee’s flight all the way around the world.
- Bees have 5 eyes
- Bees are insects, so they have 6 legs
- Bees fly about 20 mph
- Bees have been here about 30 million years!
- An average beehive can hold around 50,000 bees
- Bees are important because they pollinate approximately 130 agricultural crops in the US including fruit, fiber, nut, and vegetable crops. Bee pollination adds approximately 14 billion dollars annually to improved crop yield and quality.
Offices for Keep Gastonia Beautiful are located at the Garland Municipal Business Center at 150 S. York Street on the second floor.
Contact Information:
Garland Municipal Business Center
150 S. York Street, Gastonia, NC 28052
(PO Box 1748, Gastonia, NC 28053-1748)
704.869.1938 (business)
704.866.6067 (fax)
