At the Fall Festival on Saturday November 5, 2016, our Peace and Social Concerns committee unvieled and dedicated the pollinator house which was built by our First Day School at the annual retreat. The pollinator house has been dubbed the "Bee-Friendly Motel."

The following dedication was given:

"We are here to dedicate this new housing as a Quakerly outreach to the homeless native bees.  There are as many as 119 different species of these plant pollinators in Frederick County. They are vegetarians and most cannot sting.  Their native homes have been destroyed by construction, roads, grass lawns and other sterile landscapes, chemicals, as well as climate change. As our human numbers grow, between 25-40 % of these natives have disappeared in recent years.

Here, thanks to the generosity of Frederick Friends and especially the First Day Schoolers, the surviving bees can come and go about their work and raise their families without fear of displacement.

We pray that this bee hotel will remind others not to forget the bees.  May it remind us to remain thoughtful and compassionate with all the lives that surround us.  When we see this bee house, may be remember that even in this world of turmoil, we are always capable of love and healing. May we see this bee house as a reminder to open our hearts and welcome all of the suffering and afflicted in our midst."