Bayer CropScience partners with Ernst Conservation Seeds to provide bulk seed to individuals and organizations that have pledged to become Feed a Bee partners and dedicate land to the establishment of pollinator habitat.
Founded in 1964, Ernst Seeds is the largest native seed producer and supplier in the eastern United States. The company sells over 400 species of native and naturalized seeds and live plant materials. Its production operations include more than 8,000 acres in northwestern Pennsylvania, additional farmland in Florida and cooperative growing relationships in Maryland, North Carolina and Oregon.
Feed a Bee partners will receive a pollinator seed mix from Ernst Seeds that includes wildflowers that bloom from spring to fall, providing important nutrients for pollinators all season long. Some of the most popular pollinator attractant plants in the mix include slender mountainmint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium), wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) and purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).
“The collaboration with Ernst Seeds is an integral part of our Feed a Bee initiative,” says Becky Langer-Curry, manager of the North American Bee Care Program. “Their participation in the campaign will help contribute to acres of bee forage that we’re aiming to help establish across the U.S. this year.”
Bayer’s initiative with Ernst Seeds is the most recent in a series of collaborations that Bayer is forging as part of its recently launched Feed a Bee campaign (FeedABee.com) that has a goal of growing 50 million flowers and providing additional forage acreage for bees in 2015.
