Resources/Links dedicated to protecting native pollinators

Local (Manitoba):

The Living Prairie Museum

The Living Prairie Museum is a tall grass prairie reserve located within the City of Winnipeg. The Museum’s goal is to provide awareness and conservation of natural areas specifically tall grass prairies through environmental education.  

The Living Prairie Museum has a 12 hectare (30 acre) tall grass prairie preserve. Set aside in 1968, it is home to over 160 species of prairie plants and a great array of prairie wildlife and pollinators.

Prairie Pollination Virtual Exhibit

Materials for this virtual exhibit – called “Prairie Pollination” – were produced and/or compiled by The Manitoba Museum for the Canadian Heritage Information Network (Virtual Museum of Canada program) for the purposes of providing the public with information about prairie plants and pollinators. 

Click here to see the Virtual Exhibit!

University of Manitoba, Department of Entomology - Bugline Identification Service

The Department of Entomology at the University of Manitoba provides basic insect identification and insect information to Manitoba residents via the Bugline. Check out the website for further information. 

Bee City Brandon

Brandon was designated as the first Bee City in Manitoba. Visit their website to learn more about their designation!

Winnipeg School Division - School Ground Greening Guidelines for Play and Learning

The Winnipeg School Division School Ground Greening Guidelines for Play and Learning  provides guidance to school communities including administrators, teachers, custodians, parents and design professionals to discuss, plan, design, and implement outdoor play and learning environments.  The document provides inspiration encouraging the school community to use their grounds to connect with nature.  The document discusses theme gardens to create spaces that are unique to each school and school community.  One of the theme garden suggested is “Be creative: The 3B Gardens -(Bees, Butterflies and Birds).

Prairie Moon Nursery - How to Grow a Prairie from Seed

Prairie Moon Nursery provides 8 steps on how to grow prairie plants from seed. Click here to learn more!

FortWhyte Alive - Naturescape Program

FortWhyte Naturescape program provides information including a Certification Checklist helping to bring biodiversity including pollinator habitat into yards and gardens. Click here to see the Checklist for more information.

List of Native Plant Suppliers in Manitoba

All garden centres in Manitoba can help attract pollinators and increase the biodiversity of your garden.  A number of suppliers specialize in native plants.  Native plants are ideal for pollinator gardens since they are uniquely suited to grow in our province and provide excellent habitat for native pollinators. Check out these websites to find out where native stock is available in our community:

• Prairie Originals
• Prairie Flora
• Sage Garden
• Shelmerdine
• The Green Spot Home & Garden 
• Prairie Shore Botanicals Plant Nursery
• Skinner Native Seeds

Manitoba Master Gardener Association (MMGA)

Resources List: The MMGA launched a list of reliable and useful resources related to gardening including books, websites, articles, and more! Topics include general gardening, native plants, creating habitats, and soil restoration. Click here to access MMGA's resources list

Mixing Native and Non-Native Plants: Linda Dietrick, a Manitoba Master Gardener, wrote a terrific article on which native and non-native plants support and attract pollinators in your backyard. The article provides detailed information on which plants to select and which plants to avoid when creating your garden. Read the article here

Noxious Weed List

The Province of Manitoba requires special care and restrictions for certain plants designated as weeds. Click here to ensure your plants are not considered a Tier 1 Noxious Weed.

Monarch Teacher Network, Manitoba

This organization is dedicated to the conservation of the Monarch Butterfly and other native pollinators.  Programming is designed to engage and inspire youth and community members with hands-on conservation work and science. Teacher resources and professional development workshops are provided. Checkout their website at: http://www.monarchteachernetworkmanitoba.com/

Restoring Canada's Native Prairies - "A Practical Manual" by John Morgan

John Morgan created a "manual" on ecological prairie restoration for Manitoba and Western Canada: http://www.naturenorth.com/RCNP.html

Nature Conservancy of Canada, Manitoba

Nature Conservancy of Canada is Canada’s leading national land conservation organization. Much work is being done in Manitoba to conserve natural landscapes. Here are some places to visit in Manitoba that is managed by the NCC: Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve, Tolstoy and Weston Family Tallgrass Prairie Interpretive Centre, Gardenton.

Check out their website at: https://natureconservancy.ca/en/

Oak Hammock Marsh Wetland Discovery Centre

Open year round, The Wetland Discovery Centre is on the edge of the Oak Hammock Marsh Wildlife Management Area. It features a restored prairie marsh, aspen-oak bluff, artesian springs, waterfowl lure crops, patches of tall grass prairie, and recreational trails. Find out more at https://www.oakhammockmarsh.ca/

National/International: 

Bee City Canada

Bee City Canada provides information and recognizes communities and organizations that are taking steps to help pollinators.  Bee City Canada’s mission is to inspire cities, towns, First Nations, schools, businesses and other organizations to take action to protect pollinators.

Pollinator Partnership Canada - Planting Guide & Ecoregional Guide

Pollinator Partnership Canada provides ecoregional planting guides, tailored to specific areas of Canada including Manitoba. Click here to see all ecoregional guides.

Pollinator Partnership Canada - "Inviting Bees to your Property, No Fear of Stings" Fact Sheet

Pollinator Partnership provides a fact sheet describing bee behaviour and tips on how to successfully coexist and enjoy pollinators in your garden without the fear of being stung.  Check out the Inviting Bees to your Property, No fear of Stings brochure for more information. 

Pollinator Partnership Canada - Practices to Reduce Bee Poisoning from Agricultural Pesticides in Canada

Pollinator Partnership Canada, in collaboration with the agriculture sector, created a guide to help protect bees and pollinators from agricultural pesticides. Click here to see the guide.

Government of Canada - Information on protecting pollinators from pesticide exposure

The Government of Canada provides a general overview on the importance of protecting pollinators and some of the Health Canada activities conducted to protect pollinators from pesticide exposure.

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation provides programs that focus on habitat conservation and restoration, species conservation, protecting pollinators, contributing to watershed health, and reducing harm to invertebrates from pesticide use. They also have a variety of guideline documents specific to best practices that support pollinator health.

Responsible Purchasing Network and Friends of the Earth – Buyers Bee-ware Guide

The Responsible Purchasing Network provides resources for purchasers and sustainability professionals dedicated to purchasing environmentally sustainable goods and services. Collaborating with Friends of the Earth, this guide provides steps an organization can take to implement a comprehensive pollinator protection program. Click here to see the guide.

Bee and Pollinator Books by Heather Holm

Heather Holm is a biologist, pollinator conservationist and a multi- award-winning author. Heather has created a website that provides useful guides with charts (and beautiful photos!) which list the native plants that support bees, wasps, beneficial insects and beneficial insects for fruit and vegetable growers. Click here to visit the website

Searchable Systemic Insecticides List

Insecticides that persist in plant tissues (systemic pesticides) can be very harmful to the pollinators that visit the treated plants. This searchable list gives you the opportunity to better understand the toxicity of certain insecticides that may be used in greenhouses or food production. 

Biota of North America Program (BONAP)

Want to know if the species of plant you’re purchasing is native to Manitoba? The BONAP field maps can tell you if it is native or introduced by region. Remember to refer to the colour key to help interpret these range maps.

Douglas Tallamy's Books and Website

Douglas Tallamy's books (especially Nature's Best Hope) calls on all individuals to take part in conservation by helping to build habitat and biodiversity one yard at a time. Our towns, cities and world can become engines of biodiversity.  For our survival, all humans need biodiversity and healthy ecosystems. His books can be purchased from various websites.

In addition, Douglas has a website that is themed around "grassroots call-to-action" to regenerate biodiversity and ecosystem function b planting native plants. Link: https://homegrownnationalpark.org/

National Wildlife Federation - Native Plant Finder

The NWF created a native plant finder https://www.nwf.org/nativeplantfinder/ - Search by zip code to find plants that host the highest numbers of butterflies and moths to feed birds and other wildlife where you live.

David Suzuki Butterfly Rangers Program

The David Suzuki Butterfly Rangers Program is a Canada wide, grass roots movement that plants corridors of pollinator habitat in our homes and communities. Rangers are partners with Tallamy’s Homegrown National Park program. Webinars and resources on their website are provided to train their volunteers. Check out their website to learn more: https://davidsuzuki.org/take-action/act-locally/butterflyway/national/

Flora of North America

Flora of North America (FNA) presents information in one reference source of all native and naturalized plants in North America north of Mexico. The FNA Association collaborates with over 30 US and Canadian institutions and organizations. It is a resource for Manitoba Conservation Data Centre. Note: Latin names of plants are required to search the website. http://floranorthamerica.org/Main_Page

Resources related to managed pollinators:

Pollinator Partnership - Planting Forage for Honey Bees in Canada (Guide)

This guide provides an overview of where and how honey bee forage can be created in Canada. The primary focus of this guide is forage creation for honey bees but creating forage and habitat will aslo help native bees and other pollinators. Click here to get the guide.

Bee Project Apiaries

Beeproject is committed to promoting and supporting honeybees in urban areas. Their Urban Pollination Project allows interested individuals to have a hive without knowing a lot, or anything, about beekeeping. This program is meant to be a turn-key operation in which they install and maintain the hive(s) and deliver the local honey to you at the end of the season. A list of participating entities include Assiniboine Park Conservancy, FortWhyte Alive, University of Winnipeg, Red River College, etc.

University of Manitoba - "Beekeeping for the Hobbyist" course

The University of Manitoba offers a “Beekeeping for the Hobbyist” Non Credit Course Offered by the Department of Entomology in collaboration with Manitoba Agriculture. For more information, click here.

Red River Apiarists' Association

The Red River Apiarists' Association, a Beekeeping Club, primarily for hobby and beginning beekeepers, located in and around Winnipeg. The Association offers social activities with regular meetings, their aim is to provide an educational setting for members, with a focus on honey bees, nectar sources, pollination of plants, and honey promotions.