Decatur Has Become a 'Bee City'

DECATUR, GA -- Feel the buzz? Decatur has gone to the bees.

The Decatur City Commission on Monday approved a resolution declaring the city's desire to become a Bee City USA community -- the first in Georgia.

The idea originated with Deborah Palmer, a beekeeper who lives in the Oakhurst neighborhood.

In February, Palmer protested a mural in Oakhurst, sponsored by the Bayer Corporation, that prominently features cartoon bees. Bayer, Palmer said at Monday's meeting, is the maker of a pesticide that has been linked to a decline in bees. (Bayer, for its part, denies the link.)

She said she got a good response to the information she handed out near the mural, wearing her beekeeping outfit.

"(But) in spite of those responses that were so positive from the community there, I was still upset," Palmer told commission members. "A few days later, it occurred to me to take that energy and put it toward something positive."

That effort resulted Monday in the commission's unanimous vote to take on the Bee City designation.

As part of the designation, Decatur will work to protect and document spaces preserved for pollinators like honeybees.

City Manager Peggy Merris said The Wylde Center will act as the city's committee appointed to keeping tabs on pollinator-friendly spaces. The city also will annually reaffirm its bee-friendly status and publicly display signage designating itself a bee haven.

Bee City USA aims to foster ongoing dialogue in urban areas to raise awareness of the role pollinators play in sustaining three-quarters of the world's plant species and what people can do to provide them with healthy habitat.

Asheville, North Carolina, became the first Bee City USA community in 2012.

(Photo via BeeCityUSA.org)