This is the ninth talk in a series of nine talks sponsored by Border Free Bees, University of British Columbia and the Okanagan Regional Library. The goal of the Pollinizing Sessions is to raise awareness of the plight of wild pollinators and empower our community to actively engage in solutions for habitat loss.

Lori Weidenhammer is a Vancouver-based artist originally from Cactus Lake, Saskatchewan. For nearly a decade she has been exploring the persona Madame Beespeaker, reviving the tradition of telling the bees. She appears as The Queen Bee at schools and community events. Lori is a member of the Second Site Media Collective and Women Who Run with the Bees. Her collaborative media works with her partner Peter Courtemanche have been shown in Canada and abroad and she has also worked in devised theatre in Canada and the UK. As an artist and educator Weidenhammer works with students of all ages on growing and eating locally, planting for pollinators and community gardening. She is passionate about art that creates and strengthens community bonds and makes the world a better place for humans and bees.