{"id":1766267188669,"date":"2026-05-15T12:06:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/?p=1766267188669"},"modified":"2026-05-17T12:33:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T17:33:04","slug":"early-food-for-the-bees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Food for the Bees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Blooming Pussy Willows Matter for Northwestern Ontario Pollinators<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The fuzzy grey buds on our native pussy willows have officially transitioned into full bloom. The branches are now covered in large, spiky catkins loaded with bright yellow pollen. While most of the backyard grow boxes are still slow to wake up, these wild shrubs are already working overtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finding reliable food sources is a massive challenge for local pollinators in May. Pussy willows are among the very first native plants to flower in our region, blooming well before the leaves even start to appear on most trees. This makes them a critical lifeline for native bees and insects just coming out of hibernation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We love seeing these bright yellow blooms open up early in the season. They provide a much-needed energy boost for the local ecosystem when almost nothing else is available. It\u2019s a great reminder that spring is finally here, even if the rest of the garden is taking its time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Program<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"\/borupscorners\">Art Borups Corners Land Lab<\/a> is a community-based summer program in Northwestern Ontario that combines participatory arts, land-based learning, and sustainable food growing from May through September each year. Participants engage in hands-on gardening and creative outdoor activities while cultivating strawberries, raspberries, saskatoon berries, vegetables, and herbs in a northern climate setting. The program explores food security, small-scale agriculture, environmental education, and food entrepreneurship while encouraging stronger connections between art, ecology, and rural community development. In 2026, the Land Lab is also expanding its conservation efforts through the introduction of milkweed stands to help support endangered monarch butterfly habitat and regional pollinator health.<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blooming pussy willow catkins provide a vital source of early-season pollen for emerging native bees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1766267188672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,25],"tags":[73,173,199,236],"class_list":["post-1766267188669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-borups-corners","category-community-garden","tag-borups-corners","tag-melgund-township","tag-northwestern-ontario","tag-sdg15"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Early Food for the Bees - Art Borups Corners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Blooming pussy willow catkins provide a vital source of early-season pollen for emerging native bees.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Early Food for the Bees - Art Borups Corners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Blooming pussy willow catkins provide a vital source of early-season pollen for emerging native bees.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Art Borups Corners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-15T17:06:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-17T17:33:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/pussy-willows-catkins-northwestern-ontario-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Art Borups Corners\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Art Borups Corners\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Art Borups Corners\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#\/schema\/person\/4b2906b824b21699f2a765b383e2c8db\"},\"headline\":\"Early Food for the Bees\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T17:06:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-17T17:33:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/\"},\"wordCount\":274,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/pussy-willows-catkins-northwestern-ontario-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Borups Corners\",\"Melgund Township\",\"Northwestern Ontario\",\"SDG 15\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Borups Corners\",\"Community Garden\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/\",\"name\":\"Early Food for the Bees - Art Borups Corners\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/pussy-willows-catkins-northwestern-ontario-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T17:06:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-17T17:33:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"Blooming pussy willow catkins provide a vital source of early-season pollen for emerging native bees.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/pussy-willows-catkins-northwestern-ontario-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/pussy-willows-catkins-northwestern-ontario-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1440,\"caption\":\"Watching the fuzzy grey buds turn into bright yellow catkins signals the true start of spring. These yellow pussy willow blooms offer critical nutrition to local pollinators when food sources are scarce.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Early Food for the Bees\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/\",\"name\":\"Art Borups Corners\",\"description\":\"Melgund Township, Northwestern Ontario\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Art Borups Corners\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/art-borups-corners-melgund-township-northwestern-ontario-northern-arts-program.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/art-borups-corners-melgund-township-northwestern-ontario-northern-arts-program.jpeg\",\"width\":221,\"height\":221,\"caption\":\"Art Borups Corners\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#\/schema\/person\/4b2906b824b21699f2a765b383e2c8db\",\"name\":\"Art Borups Corners\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/art-borups-corners-melgund-township-northwestern-ontario-northern-arts-program-1-150x150.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/art-borups-corners-melgund-township-northwestern-ontario-northern-arts-program-1-150x150.jpeg\",\"caption\":\"Art Borups Corners\"},\"description\":\"Art Borup\u2019s Corners is a northern arts incubator based in Melgund Township, Northwestern Ontario, where community-led creativity, land-based practice, and digital innovation come together. Rooted in the cultural rhythms of the boreal forest and shaped by years of grassroots organizing across Ontario, Manitoba, Nunavut, and Minnesota, Borup\u2019s Corners supports artists, youth, and community members through participatory storytelling, climate-focused projects, and creative entrepreneurship. From wild blueberry walks to immersive exhibitions and applied AI research, our seasonal programs and artist residencies foster connection, skill-building, and self-determined expression\u2014all grounded in place, culture, and care.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/author\/lsbadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Early Food for the Bees - Art Borups Corners","description":"Blooming pussy willow catkins provide a vital source of early-season pollen for emerging native bees.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Early Food for the Bees - Art Borups Corners","og_description":"Blooming pussy willow catkins provide a vital source of early-season pollen for emerging native bees.","og_url":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/","og_site_name":"Art Borups Corners","article_published_time":"2026-05-15T17:06:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-17T17:33:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1440,"url":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/pussy-willows-catkins-northwestern-ontario-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Art Borups Corners","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Art Borups Corners","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/"},"author":{"name":"Art Borups Corners","@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#\/schema\/person\/4b2906b824b21699f2a765b383e2c8db"},"headline":"Early Food for the Bees","datePublished":"2026-05-15T17:06:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-17T17:33:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/"},"wordCount":274,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/pussy-willows-catkins-northwestern-ontario-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Borups Corners","Melgund Township","Northwestern Ontario","SDG 15"],"articleSection":["Borups Corners","Community Garden"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/","url":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/","name":"Early Food for the Bees - Art Borups Corners","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/pussy-willows-catkins-northwestern-ontario-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-15T17:06:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-17T17:33:04+00:00","description":"Blooming pussy willow catkins provide a vital source of early-season pollen for emerging native bees.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/pussy-willows-catkins-northwestern-ontario-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/pussy-willows-catkins-northwestern-ontario-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1440,"caption":"Watching the fuzzy grey buds turn into bright yellow catkins signals the true start of spring. These yellow pussy willow blooms offer critical nutrition to local pollinators when food sources are scarce."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/early-food-for-the-bees\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Early Food for the Bees"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#website","url":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/","name":"Art Borups Corners","description":"Melgund Township, Northwestern Ontario","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#organization","name":"Art Borups Corners","url":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/art-borups-corners-melgund-township-northwestern-ontario-northern-arts-program.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/art-borups-corners-melgund-township-northwestern-ontario-northern-arts-program.jpeg","width":221,"height":221,"caption":"Art Borups Corners"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#\/schema\/person\/4b2906b824b21699f2a765b383e2c8db","name":"Art Borups Corners","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/art-borups-corners-melgund-township-northwestern-ontario-northern-arts-program-1-150x150.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/art-borups-corners-melgund-township-northwestern-ontario-northern-arts-program-1-150x150.jpeg","caption":"Art Borups Corners"},"description":"Art Borup\u2019s Corners is a northern arts incubator based in Melgund Township, Northwestern Ontario, where community-led creativity, land-based practice, and digital innovation come together. Rooted in the cultural rhythms of the boreal forest and shaped by years of grassroots organizing across Ontario, Manitoba, Nunavut, and Minnesota, Borup\u2019s Corners supports artists, youth, and community members through participatory storytelling, climate-focused projects, and creative entrepreneurship. From wild blueberry walks to immersive exhibitions and applied AI research, our seasonal programs and artist residencies foster connection, skill-building, and self-determined expression\u2014all grounded in place, culture, and care.","sameAs":["https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners"],"url":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/author\/lsbadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1766267188669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1766267188669"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1766267188669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1766267188681,"href":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1766267188669\/revisions\/1766267188681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1766267188672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1766267188669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1766267188669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsincubator.ca\/borupscorners\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1766267188669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}