Glendale Community College has become an affiliate of the Bee Campus USA program, designed to marshal the strengths of educational campuses for the benefit of pollinators.

GCC is the only college in Arizona to be named as a Bee Campus, and joins with other cities and campuses across the country who are united in improving their landscapes for pollinators. Glendale has two campuses, a main campus at 6000 W. Olive Ave., and its north site at 5727 W. Happy Valley Road.

To earn this designation GCC has shown that it works to minimize hazards to pollinators by using nearly no neonicotinoid pesticides, glyphosate herbicide, or other potentially dangerous pesticides. The college facilities team also incorporates native plants into the campus landscape, being mindful of their bloom time and habitat needs.

GCC actions as a Bee friendly campus include:

• Create and enhance pollinator habitat on campus by increasing the abundance of native plants and providing nest sites.
• Reduce the use of pesticides.
• Offer courses or continuing education opportunities that incorporate pollinator conservation.
• Offer service-learning projects to enhance pollinator habitat.
• Report on annual activities.

Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA are initiatives of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, with offices across the country. Bee City USA’s mission is to galvanize communities and campuses to sustain pollinators by providing them with healthy habitat, rich in a variety of native plants, and free of pesticides.

Pollinators like bumble bees, sweat bees, mason bees, honey bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, hummingbirds, and many others are responsible for the reproduction of almost 90% of the world’s flowering plant species and one in every three bites of food we consume.