Brooklyn wasn’t about to let her parents talk her into putting a warm jacket over her bee costume, even though she may have been shivering, just a little bit.
“No, I’m not cold,” she insisted, as the determined three-year-old from Clayton Heights explored the annual Festival of the Bees, the official opening of the Langley Demonstration Garden at Derek Doubleday Arboretum on Saturday, May 25th under grey, damp, and cold conditions.
She wasn’t the only one to dress up for the occasion.
Visiting kids could borrow vests with black and yellow stripes from the Langley Environmental Protection Society (LEPS) table, where society executive director Nichole Marples was wearing what she described as “bee forage” with a bright sunflower pattern.
”I’m dressed up as the nectar and the pollen that the bees collect from the sunflowers,” Marples explained.
Visitors to the free, kid-friendly event were encouraged to wear costumes to the celebration of bees that included beeswax candle making, seed bomb creating, bee house making, a plant sale, seed swap, live music, and more.
READ ALSO: PHOTOS: Aldergrove’s bee blader makes it to Montreal
Among the vendors and presenters, at the “Blading for Bees” table, Aldergrove’s Zach Choboter was explaining how he broke a Guinness World Record for the longest journey on roller blades in 2021, made to raise awareness of climate change and the importance of protecting bees.
“It was kind of an adventure,” is how he described it.
Choboter skated more than 9,000 kilometres from Whistler to St. Johns, Newfoundland. Now, he wants to blade around the world.
“I’m going to do a bunch of fundraising this year and next year, become the first human to inline skate around the world, which will be really sweet,” Choboter said.
Marcel Sachse from the Pinsch of Soil farm in Langley brought plants that gardeners can use to encourage pollinators to visit.
“We have everything from tall trees like crab apples ,and also tall perennial sunflowers, to ground covers and edibles like arugula and herbs,” he said.
“They can help bees but also … do well in salads or stir fries so it benefits everyone.”
READ ALSO: Pollinators were celebrated at the Festival of Bees in Langley
