A local nonprofit group is planning to open Detroit’s first educational community center and Michigan native botanical gardens dedicated to the conservation of pollinators.
Bees in the D, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to create a cooperative effort between residents, schools, organizations, and businesses in the city of Detroit and Southeast Michigan to contribute to both the health of honey bee colonies and native pollinators, and the education of their importance to our environment, announced the news this week, with plans to break ground in 2022.
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The center and garden will be dedicated to the conservation of native bees, honey bees, butterflies and other pollinators, from up-cycled shipping containers. It’ll be called the Michigan Pollinator Center. It’ll also serve as the new headquarters for Bees in the D.
“Spread across several Detroit lots, we are revitalizing the land with native Michigan pollinator plants, to benefit all kinds of Michigan native birds, bees, and butterflies,” Bees in the D wrote. “It will also be a home to around 100,000 honey bees that will have a “penthouse” space atop the center’s green roof! These bees will also give back by increasing produce yields in the numerous nearby residential and community gardens as they forage in a 3-mile radius from their hives.”
The center will offer tours to groups like schools and others to learn more about bees and other pollinators.
According to renderings posted by Bees in the D, the lot is located at 14th Street and Poplar Street in Detroit’s Core City neighborhood, just outside of Woodbridge.