ABOVE THE WATER: BEE APIARY & BUTTERFLIES

Bee Apiary

To help boost the nation’s declining bee populations, the Town of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea started its own urban apiary in December 2019. The apiary is located on the east side of the Public Works building, which is adjacent and just south of Town Hall.

The Town’s hives are managed by John Coldwell, president of the Urban BeeKeepers. To watch a video about the Town’s apiary, visit this YouTube link.

Up to 40 percent of the food that is produced is completely dependent on bees, which are also responsible for pollinating 90 percent of the world’s flowering plants.

Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Town Commissioner Edmund Malkoon suggested the Town start an apiary after he visited one in Oakland Park. Several cities in Broward County now maintain urban apiaries.

The apiaries do produce some honey, but their primary purpose is to provide a home for bees that choose an inappropriate place to swarm, such as an abandoned apartment building. Instead of destroying those bees, the urban apiaries offer a place for the bees to live, work and thrive.

Butterflies

Because of the adverse impact of development, especially in dense urban areas such as Broward County, there are fewer places for native plants, trees, butterflies, birds and other natural wildlife to thrive. To mitigate this impact, the Town’s Butterflies-By-The-Sea program, which took flight in 2018, encourages residents to create a NatureScape Butterfly Garden at their home, condominium, townhouse or business.

The Town and the Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Garden Club are working in conjunction with NatureScape Broward to encourage building butterfly gardens throughout our community. Once a home or condo butterfly garden is completed, it can be registered online with the National Wildlife Federation; the registration fee is $20. Once enough Town gardens are registered, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea can become a certified butterfly wildlife sanctuary.

Broward County was recognized nationally as the first county in the United States to be certified as a Community Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. The Town is a member of the National Wildlife Federation, which encourages cities across the country to help homeowners create small gardens and habitats for butterflies, birds and other natural wildlife.

For more information about the program, please e-mail Allison Zack at agzack1@yahoo.com

These five elements are needed to create a butterfly garden:

• FOOD
  Plant native species that produce flowers for pollinators and seeds & berries for birds, such as Milkweed, Lantana and Maypops.
• WATER
  Include a bird bath or butterfly puddling station.
• COVER
  Provide shelter with dense shrubs, such as Proven Winners or American Meadows.
• PLACES TO RAISE YOUNG
  Plant host plants for butterflies.
• SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES
  Don’t use chemicals that pollute our water supply. Natural gardens are much better for wildlife and you.