Butterfly Education and Awareness Day (BEAD)

ASSOCIATION FOR BUTTERFLIES ANNOUNCES the 32th ANNUAL

BUTTERFLY EDUCATION and AWARENESS DAY (BEAD)

JUNE 3, 2023

 Butterfly Education and Awareness Day (BEAD) is the first Saturday in June of each year.

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The Association for Butterflies is a non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare of butterflies through conservation, research, education, and support to professional butterfly farmers.

In an effort to raise public awareness about the benefits and necessity of butterfly conservation, the AFB hereby declares the first Saturday of June as Butterfly Education and Awareness Day (BEAD). We believe that with the creation of a international day to celebrate butterflies we will promote the importance and joy of butterfly gardening and habitat creation/restoration.

Aesthetically pleasing, important pollinators, and excellent teachers of metamorphosis, the butterfly can be celebrated through a variety of activities.

Click HERE to see plans for a Community Program you can use for BEAD. Thanks to Lori Harris for a well-thought-out program that anyone can do!

For a mayoral or gubernatorial proclamation, you can see a sample here. Illinois and New Mexico have made proclamations declaring the first Saturday in June “Butterfly Education and Awareness Day.” Government may look for 4-6 weeks to process these, so get your request in! Sample text is HERE.

After you get some ideas below, click HERE to tell us how you will celebrate BEAD; we’d love to hear!

Students and Scout and 4-H groups

  • Study a butterfly’s life cycle
  • Learn the word butterfly in several different languages
  • Find out if there is a state butterfly where you live and study its habits
  • Raise a butterfly at home or in the classroom
  • Celebrate the end of the school year by releasing butterflies
  • Plant a butterfly garden/habitat

Adults

  • Plant a butterfly garden at home
  • Plant a butterfly garden in a public place for everyone’s enjoyment
  • Celebrate a special occasion by releasing live butterflies
  • Tell friends, relatives, and neighbors about Butterfly Education and Awareness Day (BEAD)

Nature Centers, Wildlife Centers, Parks, Exhibitors and Conservatories:

  • Plan activities centered on attracting butterflies
  • Promote the concept of caterpillars turning into butterflies and discourage the use of pesticides
  • Plan a butterfly release to educate the public about butterflies
 Plant Nurseries

  • Invite a mobile butterfly exhibit to your garden center
  • Create a butterfly garden display with host and nectar plants
  • Invite a butterfly enthusiast to your garden center to give a gardening/habitat presentation

Summer Camps

  • Plan an activity related to butterflies and other pollinators
  • Take a short field trip to a natural area to study butterfly plants
  • Plant a butterfly sanctuary or habitat

Butterfly Farmers

  • Participate in a local farmers market
  • Sponsor an event in your community
  • Sponsor an event with a local nursery, conservation district or nature center
  • Work with a 4-H conservation club to sponsor an event

EVERYONE: Contact local newspapers, TV stations and other media to help promote Butterfly Education and Awareness Day (BEAD)!