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New for Pollinator Week: Printable New English & Spanish Pollinator Facts Flash Cards
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Pollinator Week 2026 is next week and it can be a great time to kick off summer activities. Whether you are tabling at the farmers market or holding a movie night, we’ve got the resources to help you out, including our new printable sheets of pollinator facts. In both Spanish and English, these 10 facts are arranged as a one-pager or as 10 small flash cards. Laminate these for a handy tabling resource.
Our theme for Pollinator Week is “Bring Back the Pollinators,” which is a Xerces Society campaign for individuals to take action to protect pollinators. The four principles of Bring Back the Pollinators are the foundation for Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA commitments, so this campaign is the perfect complement for your work to promote pollinator conservation. Use it as a way to engage more people to contribute to your community-level efforts.
Click here for your Pollinator Week Promo Kit
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Join Us for Coffee & Coworking: All About Oureach
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Join us for our summer Coffee and Coworking session on pollinator conservation outreach. We know everyone is busy, so we’re now doing monthly online “co-working” sessions where you and your fellow Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA affiliates can chat, ask questions, or just silently work.
This an informal event with no agenda or presentation, just a chance to focus on implementing your Bee City USA or Bee Campus USA commitments. Drop in anytime during this one-hour window. Brew some coffee, grab a snack, and join us!
Coffee & Coworking: All About Outreach
Tuesday, June 30
11 AM – 12 PM PDT / 12 PM – 1 PM MT / 1 PM – 2 PM CT / 2 PM – 3 PM ET
Register
This meeting will not be recorded. Laura Rost, National Coordinator of Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA, and Carly Hirschman, Community Engagement Specialist will be on hand to help.
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How To Identify a Monarch Butterfly & Tell It Apart From Lookalikes
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The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is one of the most recognizable insects in North America — but it’s not the only orange-and-black butterfly out there. None of the butterflies shown here are monarchs, which illustrates how tricky identification can sometimes be. But don't worry, this guide will walk you through how to confidently identify monarchs at every life stage, plus how to distinguish them from common lookalikes. Read more
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Designates 1.5 Million Acres of Critical Habitat for Rusty Patched Bumble Bee
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has made an historic decision to designate more than 1.5 million acres of critical habitat for the endangered rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis). This important milestone helps safeguard the places this bee needs to find food, raise young, and survive the winter across select counties in six states: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The designation also represents a major step forward for pollinator conservation, following the Xerces Society’s petition to list this species in 2013. It reflects years of dedication from researchers, conservation partners, volunteers, and community scientists working to better understand and protect this iconic native bee. Read more
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Webinar & Meeting Recordings (Plus a Great Weed ID Training Idea)
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We've had some great webinars and regional meetings the past few months. Here are the recordings and some bonus weed ID content you might find helpful:
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Stephanie Toothman, WVU Conservation Specialist notes: "You will notice that one has a yellow banner and the other has a red one. We used a red banner on the top of the page to indicate that the plant is poisonous or prickly. We felt that it was important to bring heightened awareness around these plants that volunteers may be pulling for their safety and wellbeing."
We hope you find this guide sheet idea helpful for training staff and volunteers to identify invasive species in your area of the country.
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- Clark University, MA
- Millvale, PA
- Patrick & Henry Community College, VA
If you know of a community that might be interested in becoming a Bee City or Bee Campus, we'd love to connect with them. We're particularly interested in those in Alaska or Hawaii, two states where we have no affiliates. Let us know at beecityusa@xerces.org.
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Did Your Bee City or Bee Campus Report Yet?
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Each year, Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA affiliates share a renewal report and pay a renewal fee. Our deadline was May 31, 2026. If you need an extension email beecityusa@xerces.org.
Please note: we have a new check payment address as of 3/2/2026:
Xerces Society
PO Box 739563
Dallas, TX 75373-9563
Who is due to report and pay?
- If your community was FIRST certified in 2024 or earlier, you are due to report and pay this year.
- If your community was FIRST certified in 2025, you do not need to report or pay until 2027.
- If your community was FIRST certified in 2026, you do not need to report or pay until 2028.
- If your community was one of the first 61 Bee Cities and Bee Campuses, just fill out the renewal report. You are an "early adopter" and do not need to pay the fee.
More info: How To Prepare Your Bee City Or Bee Campus Report
Thank you to everyone who has already finished their reports and paid. We'll be in touch when your report is approved over the next few months.
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Florida May Play a Bigger Role in Monarch Butterfly Survival than Previously Thought
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Toting an ultralight radio tag affixed to his back, a tiny monarch butterfly known as “Xerces25 Fish Creek” fluttered north this April from Keaton Beach, FL, to Valdosta, GA, and changed what scientists know about one of the world’s most studied butterfly species.
Famed for their long annual migrations between Canada and Mexico or between California and the interior West, it’s perhaps less well known that a subset of monarch butterflies flies to Florida in the fall. The fate of those monarchs is still unclear, with some scientists suggesting that they and their offspring stay in Florida and get absorbed into a year-round residential population that never leaves.
However, for the past two years, biologist Ray Moranz with the Xerces Society has been working to discover if monarchs migrate from Florida northward in the spring to rejoin the eastern population. Moranz and other scientists suspected as much, but without a reliable way to track monarch movement, the idea was missing proof. Read more
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Have an event, funding opportunity, or volunteer opportunity you would like us to promote? Emailbeecityusa@xerces.org. If you have a Bee City/Campus login: you can add events here.
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NEW Application and renewal fee address:
The Xerces Society
PO Box 739563
Dallas, TX 75373-9563
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Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA are initiatives of the Xerces Society.
The Xerces Society is a donor-supported nonprofit organization that protects our world through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats.
Your tax-deductible donation will help grow and sustain that essential work.
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Image credits from top:
Coworking: Bee City USA - Rowlett, TX
Rusty patched bumble bee: Sarah Foltz Jordan / Xerces Society
Monarchs & look-alikes (L to R): Lisa Hill CC BY-NC, John Hibbard CC BY-NC, Rich Kostecke CC BY-NC, Jeffery Karafa CC BY-NC
Weed ID sheets: Bee City USA - West Virginia University
Florida monarchs: Dean Jue
© The Xerces Society
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