Caring for and making sure bees can pollinate from plant to plant, Junior Quinn Flood is a beekeeper and founder and president of the Bee Green club. 

Flood explains that through her journey of being a beekeeper starting in the spring of 2019, she learned so much about pesticides. “I found out how harmful pesticides are to, especially, pollinators.” 

Pesticides are found in products such as Roundup which is very commonly used by the city to help maintain landscapes and in people’s home gardens. Roundup is primarily for killing weeds (an herbicide). When pollinators, such as bees come in contact with these chemicals it hurts their gut can cause premature death.

After learning these dangers she decided she wanted to start a club, and that’s when Bee Green was born in August 2020.  “I wanted to start a club that would work towards creating more awareness on how harmful pesticides are,” Flood said.

The club meets after school every other Tuesday through Zoom. During these meetings, they discuss upcoming and previous volunteer gardening work at Monterey Ridge Elementary School. 

The group goes to Monterey Ridge about once a week and helps Nicole Moore (garden leader for MRES). “The elementary kids aren’t able to go help right now, so it’s extra important that we go and volunteer,” Flood said. They help with basic gardening tasks such as planting and harvesting. When volunteering they have been social distancing and wearing masks to be safe. 

The last time the Bee Green club volunteered, microscopic worms had infested the gardening beds. “We had to get rid of them but did it naturally and did not use pesticides,” Flood said.

Many have joined the club to spread awareness about the negative effects of pesticides on pollinators. “I joined Bee Green Club because I’ve learned about the negative effects pesticide use has on our local pollinators, so I wanted to help educate others about it to improve the issue,” Vice President, junior Nathalie Geffroy explained. 

Club Secretary and sophomore, Bradi Beireis said, “My favorite thing about being in the Bee Green Club is that we can help the community by volunteering and spreading awareness to help save the bees. I think it is very important to help save the bees to keep Poway looking beautiful.”

Flood  said, “it is never too late to join.” For more information, email [email protected] or visit them on Instagram @phsbeegreenclub.