'Air bee n bee'

There's no place like home. And, VIP insect pollinators can now check in to bee hotels at the Forgotten Soldier Program's community garden.The "air bee n bees," as Tora Rocha calls them, will house native bees, which are not honey bees. She estimates there are about 30 species of native bees in the Auburn area.Rocha founded the organization Pollinator Posse to help grow the native bee population and increase monarch butterflies in the area."I wanted to help Donna (Arz, who is the Forgotten Solider Program organizer) here grow food, but we have to think of those who don't have a voice," Rocha said. She added that in order to have a real pollinator garden, it should be 70 percent native plants to serve nectar for bees, butterflies and birds.The octagon bee hotel frames are constructed with the help of Bill Ganch, who raises honey bees and just learned about the many native bee species, and John Pomeroy, who is a greenhouse builder and community activist. The frames are then filled with cardboard tubes and sawn logs with holes drilled in them. "The bees need different crevices," Pomeroy said, which mimics the holes woodpeckers make in a tree, a natural bee home.Because many trees with woodpecker holes are taken down because of fire risk, native bees are losing places to call home.To help the bees, on Wednesday morning the garden was all a buzz. About 20 students from Confluence High School were on hand drilling holes in the logs, placing cardboard tubes in the frames and planting native plants at the garden. "This is a really special group of kids and we try to give them as many opportunities as we can," said Melany Hall, internship coordinator for Confluence High School and veteran. "And, I'm learning a lot as well." Garden operators Tom Eberlein and Tracey James were on hand during the installation as well. "We wanted to help our garden," James said. "This will help the veggies so they produce better." During the April 20 Earth Day celebration at the garden and Lincoln Way, there will be booths for visitors to make their very own bee hotels to take home.