Example of a large bee hotel.

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(May 10, 2018) The Berlin Parks Commission wants to be more active in the bee community.

Although a local advocacy group was unable to attend a meeting last Wednesday as planned, commission members wholly supported efforts to increase the amount of pollinator gardens in the town.

Administrative Services Director Mary Bohlen, the staff liaison to the commission, said the global population of bees is declining and “there is a big movement to create bee-friendly environments.”

Bohlen said the Green Team presentation would have asked commission support to install bee hotels in Berlin parks and said the group planned to develop a resolution to present to the mayor and Town Council.

“A lot of people tend to think it is about people keeping hives, and that’s not at all what it is,” she said. “It’s very passive … you’re just creating an ideal environment.”

Berlin Falls Park Coordinator David Deutsch said the group made a similar presentation during a recent Berlin Falls Park Committee meeting and that group was supportive.

The commission unanimously approved a motion of support.

Bohlen also said she would work with a local group like Maryland Coastal Bays or Assateague Coastal Trust – and possibly Home Depot – to have materials for bee hotels at Berlin Clean Up Day, next April.

“That’s something I can work on and we’ll get that publicized, because that’ll take some gathering of materials,” she said. “But that will be good for Clean Up Day.”