Sudbury encourages 'No Mow May' to protect bees
SUDBURY - One of the most recognizable signs and sounds of spring is a lawnmower, but not this month in Sudbury.
"So, the first campaign that we launched was No Mow May, it's a volunteer campaign, folks can join it or not. The idea is that we are encouraging residents to not mow their lawns during the month of May to help protect our pollinator species," says Dani Marini-King, the sustainability coordinator in Sudbury.
"No Mow May" is a movement that already has over 50 residents volunteering to stop mowing their lawn and let biodiversity bloom, and pollinators thrive.
"When we mow our lawns too early, we have a lot of pollinators that might hibernate underground, particularly bees, so if you mow too soon, before they are awake and refueled from hibernation, you could kill those species or kill off their food and habitat," Marini-King says.
Sure, there will be weeds growing in yards, but it's actually the fuel and food that keeps the bees alive.
"It's a national campaign, we saw some other towns around the country do it... and there is some good success, seeing more and more bee populations be sustained and not killed off in those first cycles of mowing," Marini-King explains.
According to a survey from Bee Informed Partnership, Massachusetts beekeepers reported a nearly 45% drop in annual colony numbers over the Winter of 2021 to 2022.
"We need the bees; they are critical for all of our agriculture," states Romney Alwan
Alwan is Chair of the Energy and Sustainable committee in Sudbury and is also responsible for supporting this overgrown grass crusade.
"It's wonderful, I'm an amateur beekeeper, so I heard about this a few years ago, and I have a three-acre field and I don't mow it... So we're trying to make it a situation where the bees, umm survive... Not to mention I love honey! So that's wonderful as well," Alwan says cheerfully.
"Climate change is affecting all of us... it doesn't know any boundaries or discriminate against anybody, so I really want to make sure everybody in town is more resilient is more sustainable as we go forward in the future as the climate continues to change and I want the town of Sudbury to be an example for the rest of our residents and our surrounding communities," Marini-King tells WBZ.
There is no pressure to participate, but interested Sudbury residents can pick up a sign at the Facilities Department in the DPW Building and take a break from yard work for the month, all while feeling good about the environment.