For Stevens Point News

Queen of Forgotten Bees: Heather Holm is on a mission to save native species

Do you want to learn how to transform your yard to make it pollinator friendly? Our last speaker for this season, Heather Holm, has become the “go-to” expert on bees. She feels there has been too much emphasis on one introduced species and wants to educate people about the wide diversity of bees and their variety of needs.

Holm, 45, came by her fascination with pollinators gradually.  She has spent much of her life growing up outdoors on her family farm north of Toronto examining flowers on and near their farm. She has horticulture and entomology degrees and took a lot of classes on insects. She worked as a city horticulturalist in Maryland where she met her husband, Brent who is from Wisconsin.  They moved back to the Midwest 14 years ago and bought a small house on 2/3 acre where Holm has tackled a full restoration of the landscape.

Her first book was “Pollinators of Native Plants” just as concern of bee and pollinator decline was exploding. Her second book, “Bees, An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide” came out in February and already has won four awards for excellence.

Bees have gotten a lot of attention in recent years, but most of the public awareness is about honeybee collapse. Holm concentrates on the homegrown bees that are suffering and will educate gardeners in her presentation on Wednesday, May 16, at 7:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Center on “What You Can Do for Pollinators”.

Aldo Leopold Audubon programs are free and open to the public. They are located at 1519 Water St. at the Lincoln Center. For more information, email [email protected]