Jaime Pawelek
I have been studying and learning about the many wonders of native bees since 2006 when I started working in the Urban Bee Lab at UC Berkeley. Dr. Gordon Frankie sparked an interest I had no idea existed, and from there I was hooked! I have traveled all over California and have studied its diverse bees in many different gardens, including arboretum and botanic gardens, cemetery gardens, private home gardens, parks, and community gardens. Working in these diverse landscapes and being a gardener myself, I have combined my expertise on bees and their needs, with my knowledge of native and ornamental plants. I have designed bee gardens throughout the greater Bay Area, CA ranging from small school plots, backyards, and even large experimental gardens. As of 2022 I have relocated back to the Orlando, FL area and hope to continue designing beautiful pollinator friendly FL gardens!
I also studied Western Herbalism with Cheryl Fromholzer (Gathering Thyme, San Rafael, CA) from 2016-2019, and I taught gardening classes and led herb walks for the school. I am excited to meld my knowledge of bee-friendly plants with medicinal herb plants in order to create beautiful pollinator-friendly healing gardens.
Lastly, I have been honing my taxonomic skills, and am strengthening my ability to identify bees, no easy task when there are over 1,600 species in CA alone! I have been doing contract bee ID jobs since 2014, most recently in CA, but now I am back in FL, where I had previously been conducting a 2 year survey of native bees along NE FL's coast. I have also been fortunate to travel to Costa Rica to learn more about their interesting and diverse bees.
I also studied Western Herbalism with Cheryl Fromholzer (Gathering Thyme, San Rafael, CA) from 2016-2019, and I taught gardening classes and led herb walks for the school. I am excited to meld my knowledge of bee-friendly plants with medicinal herb plants in order to create beautiful pollinator-friendly healing gardens.
Lastly, I have been honing my taxonomic skills, and am strengthening my ability to identify bees, no easy task when there are over 1,600 species in CA alone! I have been doing contract bee ID jobs since 2014, most recently in CA, but now I am back in FL, where I had previously been conducting a 2 year survey of native bees along NE FL's coast. I have also been fortunate to travel to Costa Rica to learn more about their interesting and diverse bees.
To learn more about native bees, visit helpabee.org.
