Bees and pollinators
When we admire flowers, we usually look at their colors and shapes, but the most interesting parts of a flower are in its center. That’s where all the action is. The center is like a factory where seeds are quietly made. The trick is getting the male part of the flower – the yellow dust called pollen – to the tiny seeds-to-be in the female parts of the flower. Most flowering plants can’t make seeds without outside help. Bees, butterflies, flies, wasps, birds, and bats brush pollen onto the female parts of the flower as they land on the flowers and move around. They act as pollinators. Bees and pollinators and us A third of our food supply depends on pollinators. They’re essential to food production. When we lose bees and other pollinators, we lose more than honey. We lose apples and pumpkins and cranberries and strawberries and avocados and more than 140 other fruits and vegetables. In the US, we could lose more than $15 billion a year in agricultural production. Pollinators also support healthy ecosystems that clean the air, stabilize soil, and support other living things, both animals and plants. Bees and pollinators and us and them Last year we lost 44% of our honeybee colonies. Since 1990, almost 970 million Monarch butterflies have vanished. Diseases, pests, and climate change are contributing to the decline of pollinators, but growing scientific evidence points to pesticides containing chemicals called neonics as the biggest culprit. The largest neonic producers, companies like Bayer and Syngenta, coat seeds and provide pesticides for crops, which result in killing pollinators as well as pests. Bees and pollinators and us and them and the future What can we do to help protect pollinators – and apple pie and guacamole?
Friends of the Earth – BeeAction.org The League of Conservation Voters – Stop the Bee-pocalypse! Bees and pollinators and us and them and the future and our new backyards It’s fun to plant with pollinators in mind. Whether you’re planting a potted plant for a city roof garden or landscaping a backyard, consider pollinators and their favorites. Honeybees – anise hyssop, aster, beebalm, black-eyed Susan, catmint, columbine, coneflowers, goldenrod, lavender, sage, thyme, yarrow Common Eastern bumblebee – clover, rosemary, sunflower, willow Hummingbird moth – phlox, bee balm, honeysuckle, verbena Native bee – anise hyssop, blazing star, fruit crops Pollen wasp – Western wildflowers Karner blue butterfly – butterfly weed, leafy spurge, blazing star European honeybee – sage – lemon balm Monarch butterfly – milkweed Hoverfly – yarrow, wild mustard Bee fly – Desert and alpine flowers Drone fly – alyssum, cosmos, Queen Anne’s lace, lupine From Martha Stewart’s Living magazine
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AuthorToni Albert, M.Ed., is an award-winning author of more than 40 books. Her lifelong love for nature, children, and books inspired her to commit her publishing business, Trickle Creek Books, to “teaching kids to care for the Earth.” Archives
April 2018
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