Millvale Borough Becomes an Affiliate of Bee City USA

Millvale Borough Council unanimously voted on May 12, 2026 to become a Bee City USA®, joining many other cities and campuses across the country united in improving their landscapes for pollinators. To accomplish this affiliation, the Council’s action is the culmination of months of effort by Christina Joy Neumann, “worker bee director” of CoNectar Flora to Table Education and Denise Rudar, Millvale Borough Council President and Millvale Bird Town PA Committee Chair.  Millvale Borough is the first Bee City USA in Western Pennsylvania and one of eight municipalities in the state of Pennsylvania.  

Bee City USA is an initiative of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, with offices across the country. Bee City USA’s mission is to galvanize communities to sustain pollinators by providing them with healthy habitat, rich in a variety of native plants and free of insecticides. Pollinators like bumble bees, sweat bees, mason bees, honey bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, hummingbirds and many others are responsible for the reproduction of almost ninety percent of the world's flowering plant species and one in every three bites of food we consume.

Millvale passed Resolution Number 3048 demonstrating that the Boro understands the importance of sustaining pollinators, and wants to make Millvale more pollinator friendly. 

Millvale’s Mayor Brian Spoales acknowledged the importance of this initiative, stating “Millvale has always been a place where community action leads to meaningful change. Becoming a Bee City USA is more than a title. It's an active pledge to protect our natural environment, support our community gardens and ensure our borough flourishes for generations to come.”

Joanna Tamburino, Triboro Ecodistrict Food Justice Coordinator, spoke on behalf of the Millvale Community Development Corporation stating, "Successful local gardening for food crops depends on pollinator diversity for pollination, building healthy soils and providing natural pest control.  We’re excited that the Millvale Bee City USA effort will give beneficial insects and other pollinating creatures more appreciation as valued members of our local food community."  

“The program aspires to make people more PC—pollinator conscious, that is,” said Scott Hoffman Black, Xerces’ executive director. “If lots of individuals and communities begin planting native, pesticide-free flowering trees, shrubs and perennials, it will create large-scale change for many, many species of pollinators.” 

The Borough of Millvale will celebrate the Bee City USA status with a Fall Harvest Festival on October 3 & 4, 2026, that will feature talks on establishing native plants in autumn, Allegheny River nature walks and local produce/honey tastings.  That weekend will also include a reveal of the Triboro Ecodistrict pollinator art series that features some vibrant new art pieces by Oreen Cohen and V. Jennings.  The art series was a collaboration between the Millvale Community Development Corporation, Artspiration and CoNectar Flora to Table Education and funded by the Henry L. Hillman Foundation. These art pieces focus on the importance of native plants and their beneficial insects to the ecological health of the Lower Allegheny Watershed around Girty’s Run and Pine Creek. 

Currently, the Borough is forming a Bee City USA Committee that will collaborate closely with the existing Bird Town PA Committee to coordinate the efforts of native plant establishment and pollinator education. A critical role of the committee is the development of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan in conjunction with Millvale’s Public Works Department. This IPM plan will mitigate pesticide use in the Borough in favor of natural solutions that help host beneficial insects and keep waterways clean of chemical residues from pesticides. Millvale’s Bee City USA Committee members include two co-chairs Christina Joy Neumann (CoNectar Flora to Table Director) and Melissa Mason (Millvale Councilperson and Millvale Community Library Director), Denise Rudar (Millvale Council President and Millvale BIrd Town PA Committee Chair), Abbey Nilson (Shaler Area Sustainability Teacher and CoNectar Board Member) and Danielle Spinola (Abeille Voyante Tea Company owner). 

Millvale’s Bee City USA committee will hold a planning meeting on September 15, 2026 at 5:30pm at CoNectar Flora to Table Education (411 Grant Avenue) and invites all residents of Millvale and the Greater Pittsburgh Area to join in the discussion to plan the details of this pollinator-friendly initiative. 

For future updates, more information about Millvale’s Bee City USA committee meeting dates, native plant installations and educational programs can be found both on the Millvale Borough Website ( https://www.millvalepa.com/ ) and CoNectar Flora to Table Education’s website  ( www.co-nectar.org. )  

For more information about Bee City USA, visit https://www.beecityusa.org/

For more information about the Xerces Society, visit https://xerces.org/

For information about four simple ways to help pollinators, visit https://xerces.org/bringbackthepollinators/