BEEPS @ RDCO Expo May 26 and 27
at Creekside Theatre, 10241 Bottom Wood Lake Road, Lake Country.
Go Batty in Peachland – 19 May
Click for more info and tickets!
BEEPS AGM
Bats & Apples Fundraiser 2022
BEEPS has partnered with Sun-Oka Fruit Farms in Summerland to bring you award-winning apples, at a very competitive price. Wondering about the connections between Bats and Apples? Well, Sun-Oka owner, Devin Jell installed bat houses in his office about 9 years ago. They are now home to a maternity colony of about 900 bats. Thanks to their presence and foraging in the orchard, he has eliminated coddling moth spray on his trees. Just another example of the vital role that bats play in our food supply. All you need to do to support BEEPS and our conservation projects is to click on the link below and follow the instructions.
Depending on Mother Nature, your Ambrosia and Honeycrisp apples will be harvested from the middle to the end of October and again in November. Pick-up will be from outside the 50 Plus Activity Centre. We will reach out to all supporters with the exact day and time as soon as it is confirmed.
Hurry! This campaign ends NOVEMBER 5! Click here to order your Bat Friendly apples: https://fundraising.sunokafruit.com/s/beeps-bateducationecologicalprotectionsociety
Celebrating Bats in Agriculture – BATWEEK 2022 Oct 25 – 31
Bat Week is an international, annual celebration designed to raise awareness about the need for bat conservation. Bats are amazing creatures that are vital to the health of our natural world and economy. Although we may not always see them, bats are hard at work all around the world each night – eating tons of insects, pollinating flowers, and spreading seeds that grow new plants and trees. Most folks do not associate bats with supporting Food Security, the Environment and the Economy.
Examples are the partnerships BEEPS has established with the three wineries in Peachland; Saxon Estate Winery, Hainle Vineyards Estate Winery and Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards at Greata Ranch to provide information, bat boxes and guano to fertilize the grape vines. In addition, we are selling the Bat Friendly Apples from Sun-Oka Fruit Farms whose bat box occupation is approximately 900 bats, allowing him to curb coddling moth spray on his crops. So food security through insect pest control, pollination and fertilization, and agritourism… and that’s just Peachland and area. Imagine life without chocolate, coffee, lemons, bananas, wine and tequila. Thank a bat for all they do.
Paula Rodriguez de la Vega,
Okanagan Region Coordinator, BC Community Bat Program, www.bcbats.ca, Toll free: 1-855-922-BATS (2287) ext.13
Fiesta Fundraiser – Celebrating Bats & Tequila
Wednesday, June 15, 2022 from 5 – 8 PM
at the Peachland Legion #69
Go Batty in Peachland May 20, 2022
Despite the wind and rain, an eager group of 30 participants learned about these fascinating mammals along the easy, one-kilometre Bat House Interpretive Trail in Peachland. They met at the Peachland Historic School at 6:30 and “played in the mud”, literally getting their hands dirty crafting ‘seed bombs’, from garden soil mixed with sand, water and wildflower seeds.. Species at Risk Specialist, Tanya Luszcz from Environment and Climate Change Canada along with BEEPS Directors were on hand to welcome bat enthusiasts, and view the live feeds from a new camera in the attic. Motoring to the trailhead near the Trepanier Creek greenway, they te embarked upon a stroll along the Bat House Interpretive Trail, learning bat facts and asking lots of questions. The highlight of the trail walk was throwing the seed bombs at the hillside that was cleared to accommodate the recent water line installation. The bombs “exploded” in a satisfactory manner, spreading their ‘payload’ across the bare hillside. A few participants returned to the Peachland Historic School to view the live echolocation identification of bat species as they exited the attic for their nightly foraging. The numbers were low due to the inclement weather.
Bat Appreciation Day April 17, 2022
…and Happy Easter!
BEEPS recommends the following FAMILY FRIENDLY “Bat-tivities”.
Watch President, Rachel Truant video.
Celebrate and learn about these amazing and valuable mammals with a self-guided stroll on the Bat House Interpretive Trail. Look carefully for Easter surprises on the post where the bat houses are installed. Bring the number on the surprise to the Bat Display in the Peachland Historic School on Beach Ave to claim an Easter treat. While there, you may also get to see some of the new and returning summer attic residents, on the camera feeds.
For the geocachers out there check out the Bat Foraging Flyways. Go to geocaching.com and search for the Beach Ave Bat Corridor walk, which is located within a natural flight corridor used by Peachland bats during their nightly foraging. A second cache is the Bat Trail, Part 1, located at the north end of Beach Avenue
Bats Out of the Darkness: travelling bat exhibit.
July 3 – Oct 30, 2021…
Click here for a quick recap of this exciting exhibit.
Bat Week Wrap Up: October 24-31, 2021
Heidi Slyngbom – BEEPS
Happy Halloween! It’s hard to believe this time of year is already upon us, and sadly with it comes the end of our Bats Out of The Darkness exhibit and International Bat Week. Of the many activities for International Bat Week, BEEPS hosted a free pumpkin decorating contest this past weekend. It was fun. Numerous kids came from Peachland and nearby communities to demonstrate their creativity in decorating mini pumpkins. Some kids even tried their hand at tie-dyeing t-shirts and some very “groovy” shirts were made. Read more…
Attic Clean Out and Study
A group of BEEP’ers, biologists and other volunteers were on hand to climb the ladder into the attic, with the generous assistance of the Peachland Fire Department. Samples of guano were collected and the deceased bats were removed and sent to necropsy to determine their cause of death. We suspect the heat and smoke may have overcome some of the newborns. The results from the study will determine the general health of our colony.
