Continuing Projects

MEBW makes recurring grants to three organizations:

The Eagle Hill Institute in Steuben, ME, puts on a week-long seminar on Native Bees.  MEBW partially underwrites the seminar, making hiring additional teachers and teaching assistants possible.

In 2023, MEBW established  The Presidential Outreach Fund for the Maine State Beekeepers Association.  The fund allows the MSBA Board of Directors, at the suggestion of the current or former Presidents, to contribute funds for activities addressed in the MSBA’s mission that the MSBA is not currently providing.  The MSBA Treasurer lets MEBW know when additional funds are needed.

Each year, The University of Maine School of Biology and Ecology offers the Maine Bee Wellness Fellowship to a graduate student in Entomology whose proposed or completed thesis concerns native or honey bees. Funds were first given to the University of Maine for the Fellowship in 2022.

Other Programs:

MEBW has an ongoing program to encourage people to make native and non-native bee observations on iNaturalist with the additional observation field “Interaction->Visited flower of:” completed and to share those observations with the project “Pollinator Interactions on Plants (PIP) of the NE US.” Once the observations are determined to be research-grade, iNaturalist shares them for scientific research. Staff from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies oversee the project.

MEBW also encourages iNaturalist observations of both native and non-native bees to the “Maine Bees” project, overseen by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

MEBW presents educational exhibits at select fairs and events.  So far, MEBW has exhibited at the Washington County Fair, The Common Ground Country Fair, and the MSBA’s Annual Meeting,

MEBW provides grants for native and non-native bee-related activities in Maine. Details of the grant program are under the Grants menu on this website.