Just “Bee”cause

I like to keep tabs on the superintendent industry by letting Google send me alerts every day on anything that has to do with the phrase “golf course superintendent.” I get all sorts of interesting stories, but one that caught my eye in June was a story out of my own region up in Spokane, Washington. The title of the story was, “Bees among the tees: Golf course embarks on honeybee restoration effort”. I read further and discovered that Michael Greene, superintendent at Downriver Golf Course, a city-owned property, was being recognized for his work on promoting pollinators by the local paper. I knew right away that this would be a must-stop-and-visit for me the next time I visit the area.

I made my way there on July 11 after getting in from the event in Colorado Springs. I was on my way to The Club at Rock Creek off of Coeur d’Alene Lake for the Inland Empire summer golf outing. I met Mike and he said he had just a few minutes because he was on his way to the same event as well. He actually gave me more time than I thought and took me around to show me what he was doing to promote the bees. First of all, I was impressed with the condition of his course. I had read that Mike had cut his fungicide use by 60 percent, but from what I saw, you would have never guessed. The course was in amazing shape.

We drove up to a garden plot where he had planted pumpkins and some wild flowers. He explained that he applied for a grant with Bayer under the Feed a Bee program and was awarded $2,500. That money went to good use in preparing the garden plot by importing some soil amendment and purchasing the seeds. Mike also contacted a local beekeeper who was providing a couple hives for him to help pollinate the pumpkins and utilize the wildflowers. Mike explained that he is planning on hosting a local grade school this fall so the kids can come out and pick their own pumpkins. He feels that this will help them understand that food and produce doesn’t just come from a grocery store.

I thought this was everything that he had done but then he took me across the course and showed me an area of the golf course that was vacated due to a hole that had been re-routed. It was simply stunning. He had removed the turf and planted probably close to two acres of flowers instead. As we stood there looking at it a group of ladies drove by on their cart and commented how excited they were to see the flowers taking off. It was a win-win for Mike. It made me feel so wonderful seeing this kind of effort being done. Mike was taken back by the amount of attention that he had received. He said that once the word got out, he got all kinds of calls. The best part was reading a few of the comments that followed the Spokesman Review story!

I would like to recognize Doug McCullen and Bayer Crop Science for providing the funds for Mike to do this. Doug told me that he was surprised how few courses applied for grants. He believed that Downriver was one of two courses that were awarded the grant. If you’ve considered doing some pollinator habitat, fall is great time to get it done. Learn more about the Bayer Feed a Bee program.