The Oklahoma City Zoo is adding a new bee program to help pollinate zoo grounds and integrate learning opportunities for guests.
The program, which has been in the works for over a year, will house four hives in its first year as it continues to grow. The Zoo's security manager, James Lowrey, who studies and cares for bees in his free time, will oversee the program.
"For the first year of the program we are starting with four hives," Lowrey said. "That gives us a chance, especially when teaching, for people to see a lot of different hives, a lot of different situations."
This isn't the first time the Zoo has took part in helping nature's pollinators.
In 2016, following a summit which discussed population decreases in pollinators, the Zoo and other state leaders created the Oklahoma Monarch & Pollinator Collaborative. The group works to bring attention to pollinators and encourage Oklahomans to help them thrive.
Rebecca Snyder, Zoo curator of conservation and science, said many of the reasons why the collaborative was created was to educate people how they can help fight against some of the environmental stressors against bees.
"For all pollinators the big problem is habitat loss and that is caused by many different things, mainly development by people," Snyder said. "Another big problem is widespread pesticide use."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture foundthat 30 percent of the nation's food supply depends on bees, but more than half of the colonies have decreased since 1940 due to environmental and biological stressors.
