Boulder Turns to Bees to Better Understand Environmental Health

The project will help map plant biodiversity, monitor exposure to toxic chemicals and build a broader picture of ecosystem health across Boulder.

Community members are invited to celebrate the program's first installations at two upcoming events, the Boulder Bee Bio-Monitoring Kick-off and Honey Harvest on Tuesday, Sept. 1, at JCC's Milk and Honey Farm. Attendees will have an opportunity to learn more about the project, tour the farm and harvest a jar of honey collected through the initiative, and at the 2026 Tantra Lake Community Festival on Saturday, Sept. 26, which will feature food, music, local vendors, activities and performances.

"Our community's ability to weather the types of changing environmental and climatic conditions we are now experiencing is directly related to the diversity, health and resilience of our local ecosystems," said Brett KenCairn, Senior Policy Advisor with the City of Boulder's Climate Initiatives department. "Bees-both honeybees and native bees-are one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways for us to map and monitor the well-being of this precious place we live, for both humans and our larger living community."

Bee biomonitoring uses bees and the materials they collect while foraging to gather information about their environment. As bees travel between their hives and nearby plants, they interact with a wide range of habitats and environmental conditions, which are useful to learn more about our ecosystem and environment. The plants provide information on the diversity of plant life in the area, while pollen and other materials they bring back to the hive can contain traces of contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, microplastics and other airborne particles.

"Projects like this remind us that creating a healthy, resilient community is something we all have a role in," said Becca Gan Levy, Farm and Sustainability Director at Boulder JCC. "When we bring together the knowledge, resources and perspectives of city and community partners, we can see our environment in new ways and better understand how connected our neighborhoods, ecosystems and well-being really are."

This project provides another tool for understanding Boulder's environmental health and identifying opportunities to strengthen local ecosystems, including where we can create more habitat for pollinators and other beneficial species and where reducing pesticide and other chemical use could improve environmental health. By looking at our environment through the lens of bees, the city and its partners hope to turn the data into actionable information that supports a healthier, more biodiverse community.

Details:

• Event: Sustainable Living: Insights from the Hive: Boulder Bee Bio-Monitoring Kick-off and Honey Harvest
  • Date: Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026
  • Time: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
  • Location: Boulder JCC - 6007 Oreg Ave, Boulder, CO 80303.
    Space is limited; please register to attend.
• Event: Tantra Lake Community Festival
  • Date: Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026
  • Time: 3 to 7 p.m.
  • Location: 1000 W Moorhead Cir. Boulder, CO 80305.
    Registration encouraged via an online form.

Learn more about this project and the city's climate work on our website.