• Celebrate and learn more about these VIP invertebrates with family-friendly activities from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Aug. 18, 2018
• Beekeeper and entomologist Mario Padilla performs a real-time honey harvesting process in BROLL link below
• Today’s harvested honey can be bottled this afternoon, and be in local grocery stores in 1-2 weeks

BUZZ Worthy BROLL is available to download here: https://we.tl/t-Hz6RqlLXqN
In honor of World Honey Bee Day, Rice’s Honey®, a leading producer of high quality, U.S.-only raw and unfiltered honey since 1924, today showed off the honey harvesting process with Butterfly Pavilion entomologist and beekeeping expert Mario Padilla from beehives on site at the zoo, located in the Denver suburb of Westminster. Today’s harvested honey can be bottled this afternoon and be on local grocery store shelves in 1-2 week.

Rice’s Honey® has recently partnered with Butterfly Pavilion to support the Pollinator Awareness through Conservation and Education (PACE) program, A portion of proceeds from every bottle of Rice’s Honey® sold is donated to the PACE initiative to promote and protect the prosperity of pollinators worldwide.

Why are bees so important to Butterfly Pavilion?
As the world’s only stand-alone, AZA-accredited invertebrate zoo, Butterfly Pavilion’s mission is to foster an appreciation of invertebrates (including pollinators) by educating the public about the need to protect and care for threatened habitats globally, while also conducting research for solutions in invertebrate conservation.

From large agricultural crops to local vegetable gardens, pollinators are vital to human production of food sources and the reproduction of native plants. In fact, an estimated one out of every three bites of food eaten worldwide is a result of work done by pollinators. However, pollinator populations, from bees to butterflies, are in decline because of habitat destruction, chemical pollution, parasites and pathogens.

Butterfly Pavilion is working to save them.
Pollinator Awareness through Conservation and Education (PACE) is a global initiative led by Butterfly Pavilion to increase awareness of the importance of pollinators and promote habitat and species conservation. PACE programs include habitat restoration projects, education programs for adults and children, citizen science opportunities and other projects world-wide.  Notable and ongoing projects include:

• In collaboration with the Katie Adamson Conservation Fund, Butterfly Pavilion entomologists are working on a bee fencing project in Nepal, using bees to mitigate the human-elephant conflict in that area. With an understanding that elephants are fearful of bees, hives are placed around the perimeter of agricultural crops, ensuring that these areas are not disturbed. This design provides an alternative to harmful means of elephant control, while protecting farmers’ livelihoods and adding pollination to the local area. Butterfly Pavilion entomologist and beekeeper Mario Padilla and an elephant keeper from the Denver Zoo will travel to Nepal in October to inspect the current fencing in place and teach local farmers the skills necessary to achieve thriving hives.
• In Mongolia, Butterfly Pavilion is working with the Institute of General and Experimental Biology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences to seeks to determine the conservation status of Parnassian butterfly species, while exchanging information to ensure the long-term success of these important invertebrates
• Our Coastal Dunes project for the Bureau of Land Management is focused on creating a comprehensive inventory and comparison of the insect species found in restored and unrestored coastal dune sites in Northern California, specifically pollinator populations.
• Assisting the Colorado Department of Transportation in developing the new Pollinator Highway by mapping existing roadside habitat and helping restore and improve those habitats along Interstate 76 from Denver to Nebraska. This is an important corridor for bees and the Monarch Butterfly migration each fall.
• Ongoing professional beekeeping services where Butterfly Pavilion entomologists keep honey bee hives in collaboration with organizations on their property. For example, Butterfly Pavilion has partnered with Denver farm-to-table restaurant group, Edible Beats to keep a hive at their urban farm and use the honey from that hive in dishes at some of their six areas restaurants— Root Down, Linger, Root Down DIA, Ophelia’s, Vital Root, and El Five.
• Butterfly Pavilion, People and Pollinators Action Network and Colorado State Beekeepers Association will bring together organizations interested in and working on pollinator protection this fall at the annual Colorado Pollinator Summit.

Learn more about Butterfly Pavilion’s local and global impact though PACE at Butterflies.org/PACE/. For media inquiries about these projects, contact Kristen Petitt Stewart at kstewart@butterflies.org or 970-389-1561.

Up Next at Butterfly Pavilion
Tarantulas & Tequila – Aug. 30, 2018, 6-8 p.m.
Enjoy the flavors and aromas of summer at this tasting featuring an assortment of tequilas, local bites, live music and incredible tarantulas. Includes food and drink, a musical performance by Jon Weiss, full exhibit access and exclusive animal encounters. 21+ only, ID required for entry. Get tickets at Butterflies.org

BUGTOBER Returns – Oct. 1-31, 2018
BUGTOBER returns this October with Toxic Terrors! Don’t let their small size or delightful colors fool you. These organisms don’t play nice. Putting abilities like strength or speed to shame, many invertebrates and plants have developed incredible defenses that deliver toxic chemicals to adversaries that try to touch or eat them, or inject toxins directly with fangs, spines, legs and other specialized delivery systems. For humans, falling victim can mean a whole spectrum of consequences, from slight discomfort to intense pain and even death!  Visit Butterfly Pavilion all month long in October to meet species who use powerful venoms and poisons to ward off predators and dominate unsuspecting prey. It’s your chance to live on the edge and get up close and personal with some of nature’s most impressive toxic terrors. This special exhibit is included with general admission.

About Butterfly Pavilion:
Founded in July 1995 and accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Butterfly Pavilion is the world’s only stand-alone, AZA-accredited invertebrate zoo, occupying a 30,000-square foot facility on an 11-acre campus provided by the City of Westminster, Colorado. Butterfly Pavilion’s mission is to foster an appreciation of invertebrates by educating the public about the need to protect and care for threatened habitats globally, while conducting research for solutions in invertebrate conservation.

BROLL of today’s bee hive harvesting from Colorado’s Butterfly Pavilion can be downloaded here: https://we.tl/t-Hz6RqlLXqN and includes: a hive opening, close-ups of buzzing bees from the hive, a hive-cut and external shots of the zoo. 

Sound includes:
– Interview with Butterfly Pavilion entomologist Mario Padilla on the harvesting process, why honey bees are vital to many foods we consume and some fun facts about bees
– Rice’s Honey® CEO Tony Landretti on the importance of working with local beekeepers and buying local honey

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Butterfly Pavilion Media Contact(s):
Kristen Petitt Stewart, kstewart@butterflies.org or 970-389-1561 or Russ Pecoraro, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, rpecoraro@butterflies.org or 720.375.9984