Learn about bees and what they need

Salty Talks will present an evening of conversation on Wednesday Dec.14 at Ilwaco’s Salt Hotel & Pub, located at 147 Howerton Ave on the Ilwaco waterfront.

Pollinators play an important role for a healthy ecosystem. Discover the steps to cultivating a pollinator-friendly yard and practice skills for making your environment friendly to bees with naturalist, writer and beekeeper Julie Tennis. She has kept bees since 2008, and is passionate about helping native bees in the local area.

For Tennis, the route to appreciating native bees came through her work with honeybees as a beekeeper, and she strives to find balance between the two, recognizing the importance that each population brings to our local ecosystem.

Tennis, business owner of BeeMentor.com and Bee Haven Apiaries has multiple colonies from Astoria to Skamokawa. Topics of the evening will range from the background of native bees, describing differences in bee species living in the Long Beach area, and how human intervention can play an important role to help prosper the survival of these pollinators.

Salty Talk presentations are located upstairs in the Salt Hotel and Pub, The event is free to the public and starts at 6:30 p.m. Come early or stay late for those wanting to grab dinner or beverage.

Salty Talks are in partnership with the SALT Pub & Hotel, Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, with support from Friends of Columbia River Gateway, and the Port of Ilwaco.