Oliver O’Donnell will be the May 6 Garden Club speaker.
An extraordinary Pacific Palisades Garden Club meeting will be held 7 p.m. on Monday, May 6 at the Pacific Palisades Woman’s Club, 901 Haverford Avenue. The topic will be Native California bees and the local expert speaking is Oliver O’Donnell, who has been a backyard beekeeper for almost five years.
O’Donnell, a freshman at Palisades High School, will speak about “Solitary Housing: Attracting Pollinators and Creating Bee Habitats for Your Garden.”
He first became interested in bees when his teacher at Paul Revere Middle School asked his class to research topics about nature. Oliver determined he wanted to learn more about the care and keeping of bees and see for himself how the bees went about their “bee-ness.”
While honey bees and other social bees work together to pollinate efficiently, solitary bees have many unique attributes that help them pollinate alone. They are also easy to house.
“With a little effort to create hospitable habitats for them, we can all help these bees do more for our gardens and community lands,” said O’Donnell, who has been playing the violin since first grade.
When not studying and building solitary bee homes, O’Donnell spends time sailing and instructing youth on how to sail.
The meeting is open to the community, but members of the Garden Club, would like people to RSVP, so they can ensure there are enough refreshments. click here.