Up With Bees

06/03/2026

The Oklahoma Aquarium’s new pollinator garden officially opens with a ribbon cutting on June 16 at 1:00 PM!

Up With Bees is honored to have a (very)small part of this project. We helped organize volunteers to clear and prepare the former traffic-calming parking lot islands that are now thriving pollinator plots, and we’ll even have a small apiary on site. The incredible garden you see today, however, is the result of the Oklahoma Aquarium staff and their dedicated volunteers!

You can see the love they have for their workplace and their mission in every bloom.

Thank you, Oklahoma Aquarium, for the entertainment, education, conservation, and maximum effort you bring to our community every single day! Your commitment to creating spaces that inspire curiosity while supporting pollinators and wildlife is truly something special.

You inspire us, Oklahoma Aquarium! 🐝🌻🦋

05/12/2026

🍯 We’ve got some REALLY sweet news coming soon… and we’re too excited to keep all the good vibes to ourselves! 🐝💛

So let’s do a giveaway! 👇

Comment below and tag a friend. If your name is selected, BOTH you and your friend will each win a GIANT 4 pound honey bear! 😱🍯

That’s right…
🐻 4 pounds each
🍯 Raw, pure, unfiltered honey
💛 8 pounds of honey total being given away! We will also cover the shipping even if you’re not in Oklahoma!

These jumbo bears are packed with delicious local goodness and we cannot wait for you to get your hands on them.

We’ll randomly select the winners and announce them in a separate post soon. Ready… go tag your honey-loving friends! 🐝

05/08/2026

🌼🐝 THIS is what a thriving pollinator plot can look like in the middle of the city. 🐝🌼

If you’re anywhere near 15th and Utica in Tulsa, take the tiniest detour over to 16th & Victor Ave and check this out for yourself!

What used to be a regularly mowed lot is now a vibrant native meadow buzzing with life. By converting the space into pollinator habitat, our customer is:

✅ Saving money on mowing
✅ Creating habitat for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds
✅ Bringing color and life back into the neighborhood
✅ Supporting the ecosystem right here in Tulsa

This is exactly the kind of win-win we work for at Up With Bees. Less maintenance. More beauty. More life. 🌿

Imagine what spaces like this could do across our communities if more people made the switch.

Got a yard, lot, business frontage, or unused space you’d love to transform? Let’s talk. 🌻

04/18/2026

🐝✨ Swarm season notice! ✨🐝

If you see a big buzzing ball of bees hanging out on a tree, fence, or your porch… don’t panic 😄

That’s a swarm, and it’s actually how bees move to a new home 🏡💛

Here’s the cool part:
👉 They’re usually not aggressive
👉 They’re just resting and protecting their queen
👉 And they’ll often move along within a day or two

🚫 PLEASE don’t spray them
Spraying harms pollinators we depend on for our food 🌸🍓🥑 and it’s often unnecessary

✅ Instead:
• Give them space 👀
• Keep kids and pets back 🐕
• Call a local beekeeper or swarm removal group 📞🐝

These little workers are doing big things for our world 🌎💛 Let’s take care of them!

🐝✨

03/31/2026

We took a page from our friends at the Oklahoma Aquarium today and had an absolute blast doing it! Removing barriers and making education so fun it doesn’t even feel like learning! 🐝

We teamed up with our Tulsa County Library and we wiggled, we waggled, stretched, and danced like bees do. Then we set up primary-colored flower paint stations to show how pollination works and helped kids mix their own colors to create their artwork!

Such a great time with some incredible young minds. We can’t wait to be back!

03/14/2026

HiveLive is getting closer and closer to coming to a screen near you!

For now, have this moment of Zen of the concept! 🐝🐝🐝

03/10/2026

🐝🌼 Big Buzz at the Oklahoma Aquarium! 🦋

We are having an absolute blast partnering with the Oklahoma Aquarium, and our next project is something special… a formal Monarch Waystation! 🌿

Monarchs travel thousands of miles during their migration, and these waystations give them the food and habitat they need to survive the journey. You can learn more about the program here:
https://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/

The Aquarium campus is a perfect example of what Up With Bees loves to do. We helped transform their traffic-calming parking lot barriers into thriving pollinator habitats. 🌸🐝

Even better? Those old monoculture grass areas used to require mowing and maintenance. By converting them into pollinator plantings, the Aquarium is now saving money, reducing maintenance, and creating habitat for birds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators!

🌿 Less mowing - more savings!
🐝 More habitat - more pollinators!
🦋 More beauty - better experience!

Everybody wins! 🥳

The Oklahoma Aquarium recently presented Up With Bees with a custom art piece created by Vintage Window Design to thank the organization for its hard work and collaboration on OKAQ’s upcoming pollinator garden. Executive Director Kenny Alexopoulos, Director of Development and Research Dr. Ann Money, and Director of Administrative Services Janis Davis presented the piece to Up With Bees co-founder Adam Abel in recognition of his efforts to improve pollinator habitats across Oklahoma.

03/08/2026

Happy International Women’s Day to all the amazing women and queen bees out there! 🐝👑

Women help our families, workplaces, and communities thrive, just like bees help our world bloom. Thank you for the strength, kindness, leadership, and love you bring every single day.

Today we celebrate you, the queens of the hive. 💛🌼

03/01/2026

“Are honey bees invasive?” 👀🐝

Short answer? Yes.
HOWEVER - They were brought to North America in the early 1600s. That is over 400 years ago. Colonists even called them “white man’s flies” because they arrived before the settlers did.

Are they native like our bumble bees, mason bees, squash bees, and 3,500+ other North American species?
Nope. 🇺🇸

Are they fully naturalized and one of the most domesticated livestock species in American agriculture?
Absolutely. Think tiny flying cows… but with better PR. 🐄➡️🐝

Here’s where we land at Up With Bees:

🌸 Native pollinators are essential.
🌻 Biodiversity matters.
🍎 Honey bees power a huge part of our food system.

This is not a pollen civil war.

It is a team sport.

We build habitat big enough for the whole buzzing, fluttering, nectar-loving crew. 🐝🦋🦇

Up with ALL the pollinators. 💛

02/22/2026

Pollinator Spotlight: Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds pollinate tubular flowers while hovering and can beat their wings up to 80 times per second.

They remember every feeder and flower they visit and can travel hundreds of miles during migration.

This week’s small action:
Clean and refill hummingbird feeders regularly or plant red and orange native blooms.