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Seeds of Change: Bee City USA & Bee Campus USA 2025 Annual Report
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Dear Friends,
What a lively, productive year 2025 was for Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA affiliates! We saw a record number of renewal reports, featuring creative, effective pollinator conservation strategies from communities ranging in size from 169 people to 1.38 million.
Collectively, 38,000 people pulled weeds; sowed seeds; and planted forbs, shrubs, and trees creating and enhancing over 3,700 acres of pollinator habitat.
Through pollinator festivals, movie nights, native tree giveaways, multi-state pollinator surveys, and more, affiliates held over 3,900 events that engaged over a half million people.
In addition to reading about the 70+ affiliates we highlight in our annual report, Seeds of Change, we encourage you to:
I hope they seed some ideas for you for in your own pollinator conservation work.
Thank you for being a part of our community,
Laura Rost
National Coordinator
Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
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Seeds of Change: A Celebration of BCUSA Affiliate 2025 Achievements
Thursday, Oct 29
12 PM-1 PM PT / 1 PM-2 PM MT / 2 PM-3 PM CT / 30 PM-4 PM ET
Register
Free, Online
Join us for a tour of our collective annual report spotlighting the wonderful accomplishments of our Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA affiliates in 2025. We will be celebrating successes and sharing the inspiring habitat, pesticide reduction, and outreach work of our BCUSA community.
This webinar will be recorded and available on the Xerces Society YouTube channel on the Bee City USA Playlist. Closed Captioning will be available during this webinar.
To request a reasonable accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility, please contact outreach@xerces.org.
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- Floyd County, VA
- Northville, MI
- Truckee, CA
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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[Scholarship Opportunity] Four $5,000 Student Research Awards from the Xerces Society, Deadline: Dec 1
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The Xerces Society has several great student research awards available. Please feel free to share these with students you think might benefit from these opportunities.
Deborah BanDrosky Award:
For students engaged in studies and research as part of a higher education degree related to invertebrate conservation and who intend to continue to work in this field. For full award information, instructions, and FAQ, visit: xerces.org/bandrosky
- Amount: Two awards of $5,000
- Application Deadline: Tuesday, December 1, 2026 at 11:59 PM PST
- Winners Announced: By March 31, 2027
- Initial Award Payment: By July 2027
Joan Mosenthal DeWind Award:
For students pursuing research and conservation of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). For full award information, instructions, and FAQ, visit: xerces.org/dewind
- Amount: Two awards of $5,000
- Application Deadline: Tuesday, December 1, 2026 at 11:59 PM PST
- Winners Announced: By March 15, 2027
- Initial Award Payment: By June 2027
Read about past Bandrosky and DeWind awardees.
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NEW! Xerces Society's HOA Toolkit
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Coffee and Coworking: Grow Your Committee
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Join us on the last Tuesday of each month for Coffee and Coworking, time set aside for you and your fellow Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA affiliates to chat, ask questions, or just silently work. Our focus in October is growing your Bee City/Campus committee. We can discuss recruiting members, onboarding ideas, committee tasks, or anything else. Read details on BCUSA Committees Best Practices.
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Coffee and Coworking: Grow Your Committee
Tuesday, Oct 27
11 AM – 12 PM PT / 12 PM – 1 PM MT / 1 PM – 2 PM CT / 2 PM – 3 PM ET
Register
Free
Laura Rost, National Coordinator of Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA, Carly Hirschmann, Community Engagement Specialist, and/or Matthew Shepherd, Director of Outreach and Education will be on hand to help.
This an informal event with no agenda or presentation, just a chance to focus on implementing your Bee City USAor Bee Campus USAcommitments. This meeting will not be recorded. Drop in anytime during this one-hour window. Brew some coffee, grab a snack, and join us!
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Five Ways to Elevate Your Community’s Pollinator-Friendly Practices
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Every neighborhood, town, and college campus can be a haven for wildlife. Change can look like turning roadsides and unused spaces into habitat, reducing pesticide sprays, helping neighbors learn about conservation, and more. This blog by Xerces staff Jacqueline Buenrostro features the work of some of our Bee Cities! Read: Five Ways to Elevate Your Community’s Pollinator-Friendly Practices
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[external] Great SE Pollinator Survey: The Results Are In!
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Leaves are not litter. They are food and shelter for butterflies, beetles, bees, moths, and more! Encourage your community to keep things a little wild this fall. Leaves, hollow and pithy stems, brush piles, dead wood, soil, and flower heads all provide important winter shelter for many invertebrates, including native bees.
In our updated Leave the Leaves Promo Kit you will find talking points, social media content, printable outreach materials, videos to watch (and share), a template op-ed, links to further reading, and ideas for signage.
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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:
Annual report: Top (L to R): Bee City USA – Novi, MI; Jaime Coon (Bee Campus USA – Earlham College, IN); Izzy Rodelius (Bee Campus USA – Colorado State University, CO.
Bottom (L to R): Botanical Garden University of North Florida, FL; Heather Hutmacher (Bee City USA – Denton, TX); John Webb (Bee City USA – Louisville, CO).
Scholarships (ctenucha moth): Karin Jokela
Coworking: Bee City USA – Richmond, VA’s committee. Credit: Jesse Palma
Five ways: Photo courtesy of the Elm Grove Beautification Committee
Great SE Census: Great Southeast Pollinator Census, University of Georgia Extension
Leave the Leaves: Sign photo: Kailee Slusser / Xerces Society. Bumble bee photo: Katie Lamke
© The Xerces Society
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