Wawapek Preserve

Wawapek is where Pollinate Happiness began. When Aidan was in 5th grade and Ben was in 6th, the brothers entered Bethpage Federal Credit Union's Difference Makers youth grant competition with a plan to build a planter bench filled with native Long Island pollinator plants. They won, and in June 2021 the finished bench was installed at Wawapek Preserve in Cold Spring Harbor.

The steel planter carries a laser-cut honeycomb design and a bee tracing a dotted flight path, the motif that became the Pollinate Happiness logo. The brothers cut, ground, polished, and stenciled the steel themselves, then hauled the finished bench across the preserve's meadow and filled it by hand.

The planting is a classic Long Island pollinator mix: purple coneflower, common milkweed for monarchs, bee balm, goldenrod, and black-eyed Susan. Together they bloom from early summer into fall, so there is nectar available for the whole season.

Visiting

• Wawapek Preserve is open to the public from dawn to dusk. Park in the small lot off Shore Road and follow the meadow trail.
• Use the what3words link for the exact location of the bench.
• Peak bloom is July through September, when milkweed, bee balm, and coneflower overlap and monarchs are most likely.