(Okoboji)– The Dickinson County Nature Center is gearing up for it’s largest event of the year. Dee’s Bee and Butterfly Festival is coming up Friday, September 11th from 4:00 until 7:00 pm at the center. Amy Heibult, Community Relations Director for the Dickinson County Conservation Board, says there will be hands-on activities for people of all ages, along with some entertainment…
“South Dakota Aerial & Arts is going to be doing some acrobatics, some juggling, and stilt walking. There will be two shows, performances, and we’ll also have Boernsen Bees. Marleen Boernsen will be doing a honey extraction demonstration at 5:30. And then we’ll also have several activities going on throughout the entire evening. We’ll have pollinator crafts over at Maser Monarch Lodge, we’ll have temporary tattoos, there’s going to be a petting zoo, bouncy house, outdoor games.”
Some vendors will also be on hand…
“Boernsen Bees will have their honey products for sale and then Back Alley Barbecue will also have their delicious brisket and other food and beverages for sale. And then new to the festival, we actually have the Dickinson County Behavioral Health Coalition promoting how nature benefits our mental health, and then they’re also going to be promoting some of the local resources available for folks to benefit their mental health.”
Heibult says one of the main highlights again this year will involve tagging monarch butterflies as part of the Monarch Watch Program…
“And this program actually involves the tag, or a little tiny sticker that gets put on the back wing of the butterfly. It can be re-captured further south. So as the butterfly migrates, if someone else catches it, they can report it. There’s a little unique code on that sticker, so that is put into the data base on the Monarch Watch website. That data the following spring will show up and we can see how far that butterfly has traveled. It’s a really unique program to be a part of. We will also be measuring the butterfly wings this year, sporadically throughout the event.”
Heibult says two monarchs that were tagged during last year’s event were located last winter on the southwest coast of Mexico, some 1,600 miles away. She adds the event is typically held this time of the year as this is the peak of the monarch butterfly migration.
