(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Gardening with a Purpose: Pollinator License Plates [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-01 Proposed Oregon pollinator paradise plate - all about native bees and honey bees I hadn’t thought about special vehicle license plates for pollinators, but I’m happy the idea is catching on. I recently learned that the Department of Agriculture at Oregon State University is taking pre-orders for a newly designed pollinator-themed plate to benefit research on honey bees and native bees at OSU. I signed up. They only need 3000 subscriptions for the plate to be officially produced. From the article: kbnd.com/... ‘Pollinator Paradise Plate Gets Drivers Buzzing CORVALLIS, OR -- A proposed “Pollinator Paradise” license plate appears well on its way to becoming reality, thanks to the efforts of Oregon State University. Like all good ideas, the plate started on social media. OSU Assoc. Prof. of Horticulture Andony Melathopoulos says, "I think it was a person down in Talent, Oregon put on Facebook, ‘There’s a whale plate. Why don’t we have a bee plate?’ And that got us started." Melathopoulos is Oregon’s Pollinator Health Extension Specialist. He says sales of the plate benefit ongoing research, "Our department has two really large programs: The Pollinator Health Program and the Apiculture Program. We have a key position that makes the Oregon Bee Atlas run. We’ve got a specialist who goes through hundreds of thousands of wild bees that volunteers have collected. That program will be made sustainable through this plate." The design features two of Oregon’s most iconic bees: the managed honey bee and the wild yellow-faced bumble bee. They're positioned on either side of a field of red clover, which Melathopoulos says is quite intentional, "Not only is Oregon a leader in it, it’s bee pollinated, and it’s one of the few crops in the United States - I’d say the only one - where you’ll find such a diversity of bumblebees on the crop." He adds, "I’ve also been really excited by the reception of the artist. This is an Oregonian, 16-year-old, the biggest bee nerd in the state. Everybody loves that." ‘ Looking around the web, I discovered that other states offer special pollinator or wildlife habitat license plates. The Delaware pollinator plate has it all: bees, butterflies, birds, and plant native species. No wonder the design won an award! The Delaware plate is really cool – it even won an award from an association of license plate collectors: ‘The Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles is flying high since learning that its new “Support Pollinators” license plate won the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association’s Best Plate Award for 2021.’ baytobaynews.com/... Here are some more state pollinator plates: Virginia protect pollinators plate — with a hummingbird, bees and butterflies Geogia go wild plate with a Monarch butterfly The Minnesota plate focuses on habitat for pollinators - bumblebee and butterflies Does your state have a license plate for pollinators or wildlife? [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/1/2149816/-Gardening-with-a-Purpose-Pollinator-License-Plates Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/