Certified Pollinator Advocate Series
Pre-registration required.
Cost: $25 (25% off for BGA Members)
Hundreds of bee species are native to our Western North Carolina mountains. Pollen is their only source of protein, that’s why they actively--not accidentally--collect it. No wonder bees are considered the best pollinators in the temperate world! This class explores their life cycles, nesting habits and floral preferences.
Instructor Brannen Basham, with his wife Jill Jacobs, owns Spriggly’s Beescaping, a nature education and habitat restoration business from Western North Carolina. Brannen is a horticulturist and landscape designer who cut his teeth in the native gardens at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA and the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.
Brannen presents regularly on a variety of nature-based topics, including pollinator-focused presentations with the Organic Grower's School, Cullowhee Native Plant Conference, and WNC Gardening Symposium, along with writing for local, regional, and national publications.
Brannen has also published two books, a non-fiction collection of nature articles, A Guide to the Wonderful World Around Us and a children's book co-authored with his wife, Finding Home: A Story of a Mason Bee. They have an online course series, called Gardening for the Planet, that features over 16 hours of on-demand beneficial wildlife and sustainable gardening content.
In addition, Spriggly's creates educational signage and interactive exhibits that expand upon and highlight important conservation topics. On the habitat restoration side of their business, they offer services to homeowners, businesses, and municipalities, focused on designing and implementing spaces to support pollinators, wildlife, and the ecosystem around them. Visit some of the public pollinator gardens he's designed and installed at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville and 7 Clans Brewing in Asheville, along with a rain and pollinator garden at the Haywood County Arts Council.
Photo of a carpenter bee on an ice plant by Kate Barber.