The Bee Line
The Bee Line is being grown in St. Paul!
Residents of the Frogtown and Hamline Midway neighborhoods have been working along Pierce Butler for about 6 years to enhance the roadside planting with native pollinator plants. In 2022 a dedicated group of folks from these communities, with the help of Frogtown Green and the Hamline Midway Coalition, were awarded a Lawns to Legumes demonstration grant (from the state of Minnesota) for a 2 year effort to increase native pollinator habitat along their shared northern border of Pierce Butler Route.
| What is ‘The Bee Line’? | |
A completed Bee Line will be a 2.25-mile planted corridor along a transit-way already inhabited by Rusty Patched Bumblebees. The greenway will comprise a series of pollinator-beneficial, native plantings: large perennial gardens; rain gardens, trees and shrub groves; and a meadow. The corridor follows Pierce Butler Rte in north St Paul, from the intersection of Dale St and Minnehaha Ave to Newell Park, just beyond the Snelling/Pierce Butler entrance ramp. Parts of the Bee Line are already in place, including Monarch City Gardens near Dale and Minnehaha; Pierce Butler Meadows near Snelling; and the west anchor, Newell Park. With Lawns to Legumes support, we will link existing and new elements into a more united corridor. This phase of development will shorten the distance between pollinator-friendly areas to a half-mile—the typical foraging distance of the Rusty Patched Bumblebee. |
| The Bee Line will benefit pollinators--and people. | |
| It will multiply pollinator habitat in an area already inhabited by Rusty Patched Bumblebees. It will offer venues for learning and training about more pollinator-sensitive ways to maintain urban roadways. Most important, it will enlist neighborhood residents in helping to cultivate sustainable, pollinator-friendly beauty, along a neglected industrial truck route. | |
| The Bee Line will tackle environmental goals. | |
| By reducing mowing needs, increasing tree canopy, reducing soil erosion and absorbing stormwater, the Bee Line will demonstrate measures to address the impacts of climate change in urban neighborhoods and along roadways. |
| The Bee Line will be beautiful. | |
| As bikers and drivers travel along the abundantly planted Bee Line right-of-way, and as pedestrians visit its demonstration gardens, they will be vividly reminded of the importance of pollinators and native flora. The plantings and accompanying signage will demonstrate many ways to increase urban pollinator habitat, from boulevard strips to rain gardens, meadows, shrub groves and trees. |
The pollinators and the people living near The Bee Line extend a gracious thank you to all the contributors who have helped restore native plants and pollinators along its length. Our collective actions will make a big impact on the urban local environment surrounding the county-owned Pierce Butler Route.
In additions to a grant from the Lawns to Legumes state allocation, the Hamline Midway Coalition and Frogtown Green are grateful to a number of collaborating individuals, programs and sponsors:
Free Trees programs in both neighborhoods of Frogtown (TreeFrogs) and Hamline Midway ( Hamline Midway Environment Committee) which gets support from multiple foundations and donors such as the Friends School of Minnesota, Tree Trust, BNSF Railway Foundation, Earthkeepers at Hamline Church, AmeriCorps, Cash Money Ryders MC, and dozens of volunteers.
The MnSEED project (supported by Capitol Region Watershed District, The Minnesota State Horticultural Society and Como Community Seed Library),
Stewards of Monarch City
Volunteers for Pierce Butler Meadow
The Seedling Corps volunteers
The Como Park neighborhood Lawns to Legumes project
The Bee Line consultants: Dr. Elaine Evans, Hannah Texler and Audrey Matson Lies
Community members across St Paul near the neighborhoods of Hamline Midway & Frogtown who have started seeds, collected seeds, attended planting dates, built tree gravel beds, weeded, moved mulch, transported materials, lent tools, irrigated plantings and contributed to planning, drafting, & celebrating these collective greening milestones.
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Free Bee identification workshop series
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Free Bee identification workshop series
Bee Line volunteers are getting early registration to this special opportunity, ahead of the neighborhood, as a thank-you for all your support! Neighbor, Elaine Evans, is a well known researcher, speaker and author on bumblebees. We are lucky to have her and her associates available for this series. Bee Line supporters are encouraged to take advantage of this neighborhood happening.
Did you know there are 508 bee species in Minnesota? Twenty-four are bumble bee species. Want to know how you can tell them apart? Attend the Bee Line bee identification workshop series!
June 24th 9-11 AM Learn to identify and photograph pollinators using iNaturalist
July 29th 9-11 AM Identify and count bumblebees for National Bumblebee Week.
Led by Dr Elaine Evans,
UMN Extension Educator, Researcher Department of Entomology beelab.umn.edu(External link) and mnbumblebeeatlas.umn.edu(External link) supporter
Workshop will be OUTDOORS in the native plant gardens of Monarch City that encircle West Minnehaha Recreation Center (685 Minnehaha ave, St Paul, MN 55104)
Please bring cameras or phone cameras if you have them to help with identifying! Also recommended is to create a free account ahead of time at https://www.inaturalist.org/(External link) and if possible, have that app on your phone loaded and logged in.Free, but space is limited! Register here today: forms.gle/X4zoE7j1KesLTwPdA
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Seasonal events for The Bee Line!
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Some of Bee Line event schedules have been published. Here is the suite of offerings as a save the date. Sponsorship is trying to be arranged so that Frogtown and Hamline Midway neighbors can attend for free. Watch The Bee Line page for registration information.
