CFDC receives $9,000 grant for Pollinator Paradise

child playing at Nature Center

The Dickinson County Endowment Fund awarded the Conservation Foundation of Dickinson County a grant for $9,000 in September 2019. The grant was utilized to purchase the Build a Pollinator exhibit in the new Pollinator Paradise addition to the Dickinson County Nature Center in Okoboji. “We’re so thankful for the grants the endowment fund gave to Read More »

Read More

The amazing blue orchard mason bee

a blue orchard mason bee with pollen

Do you love fruit? Then you love the blue orchard mason bee. Blue orchard mason bees (Osmia lignaria) are part of a family of bees that are solitary — meaning they live and breed individually instead of socially in a hive, like honeybees — and use clay to make partitions to their nests and to Read More »

Read More

Some insects use a proboscis to drink

In the Build a Pollinator exhibit inside Pollinator Paradise at the Dickinson County Nature Center, one item that you get to put on your pollinator is a proboscis. Many insects have a proboscis, which is a type of mouthpart that is basically a tube to help the insect suck up nectar. You might have seen Read More »

Read More

Pollinator myths and misconceptions

bee on flower

Pollinators are a huge topic of conversation in conservation today, and that’s why we have added the Pollinator Paradise addition to the Dickinson County Nature Center. As we enter into discussions about pollinators, we hear a lot of myths and misconceptions. Let’s take a look at a few. I don’t want bees in the yard Read More »

Read More