So, pollinators cannot be far behind!

With that in mind, the PEM Shop started carrying “bee and bug houses.” These unusual dwellings attract certain types of insects, including native solitary bees, which are gentle insects and the best pollinators around (even better than honeybees!).

If you would like to make your own “bug house” for pollinating insects, we have a scheduled workshop at PEM on the Summer Solstice, Saturday, June 20. If programming is still canceled at that time, you can also find the basic directions here on our Art Projects for Kids page, in case you want to do a simple project now to support our wild insect friends and local habitats. Be sure to secure your bug house to a tree or post, so it won’t blow around in the wind. Share a picture of your finished home on social media #PEMPod.

Speaking of the outdoors, you have likely noticed there are far fewer cars and buses on the roads, trains on railroad tracks and planes overhead as an increasing number of people must temporarily work and complete school work remotely and overall travel is curtailed or restricted. In some larger cities where these restrictions are now in effect, such as Los Angeles, Milan and Beijing, the result has been an observable improvement in air quality — a silver lining in the otherwise dark cloud of a global pandemic.