The Bee Faire grew out of our desire to support our local pollinators, primarily Monarch butterflies and native bees. It has now grown into the Bee, Butterfly & Bat Faire to reflect the diversity of pollinators locally and around the world.

Our gorgeous, fuzzy native bees are a vital part of our ecosystem. They, along with European honey bees, are essential for two-thirds of the food crops we eat every day. But they’re dying at alarming rates. Suspected culprits include environmental toxins from pesticides and other chemicals, electrosmog from cell towers and other sources, habitat loss and climate change. (More information here.) 

Similarly, butterflies and moths, although less efficient pollinators than bees, nevertheless contribute greatly to both agricultural and wild pollination. 

Bats share the pollinator night shift with moths, fulfilling that role primarily in warm climates. They are essential to the maintenance of ecosystem health, rainforests and global economies — bats are considered pollinators of 1,000 plant species in the tropics. They also play a vital role in insect control and seed dispersal. 

We support planting pollinator-friendly plants along Main Street and encourage residents to keep pollinators in mind when choosing garden plants. Our annual Bee Faire raises awareness of the importance of pollinators to our food supply, our local environment and our world.

The Bee Faire

Our first Bee Faire was held in 2016 in the Cambria Historical Society gardens. We snagged America’s Honey Queen, Kim Kester, for our debut event, who spoke on bees and blossoms to a standing room crowd.

The Bee Faire features speakers on topics including backyard beekeeping, gardening for bees and butterflies, colony collapse and other threats to pollinators, and enhancing bat habitat, including how to build (or where to buy) a bat house.

The beeswax candle-making classes and the scavenger hunt are a huge hit with the kids. The adults enjoy tasting delicious, refreshing mead from sustainably gathered honey (mead is alcohol produced by fermenting honey and is the world’s oldest alcoholic beverage). 600,000 pollinations in every bottle!.

There are pollinator-friendly plants for sale, and bee products to sample and buy including luscious local honeys, and baked goods made with honey, including our homemade baklava. 

A stunning photo exhibit of bees, butterflies and caterpillars, and now bats close up is a magnet for visitors who are always fascinated by the wide variety of pollinators worldwide: blue metallic bees, rainbow bees, bright orange bees; butterflies of every hue; pink caterpillars, fuzzy bats and hundreds more.