Don’T Be A Pollinator Terminator
There are certain sights and sounds that can be found only in a garden. That is, a garden planted with specific trees, shrubs and a host of flowering and fruiting plants.
In a well-planted garden (well-planned would be nice also, but you know how that goes…), we shouldn’t have to listen too closely to hear the incessant chatter or the beautiful melodies of warblers. We should be able to catch butterflies dancing in the breeze and hawkmoths darting in and out of bright-colored flowers. There should be bees and wasps making daily rounds among the flowers and vegetables. And if we’re lucky, we might even have a resident bat working the night shift.
Though these small creatures may delight our senses, it’s their mission in life that is much more important to us, and to the world in which we live. They are our pollinators. Not only do they help sustain more than 90 percent of the world’s flowering plants, but they also help feed mankind by pollinating more than three-quarters of the world’s staple crops.
As we continue to infringe on their habitats, destroying their food supply, the populations of birds, bats, moths, butterflies and bees continue to decrease. In fact, we are threatening one of the most industrious of the pollinators and probably the most valued, the honeybee. Within the last five years, one-fifth of all domestic honeybee colonies have been lost through pesticide poisoning and/or the invasion of parasites, diseases or Africanized bees.
Pollination takes place as the insects dine on sweet flower nectar. As they feed, their feet, wings and/or back get coated in loose pollen. As they move about, the pollen is carried from one flower to the next.
It is a misconception that one visit from some industrious fellow will pollinate a blossom enough to create a delicious fruit. It literally takes hundreds of visits to one blossom to produce one lush fruit or a viable seed.
Not all flowers can be visited by all pollinators. Some flowers are pollinator-specific, such as snapdragons or figs. If the pollinator is eliminated, the plant may also die out. On the other side of the spectrum, members of the composite family — daisies, sunflowers etc. — will allow just about any passerby to land and partake in a good meal.
Though progress often eliminates food and habitats for many of our pollinators, we can help. Because pesticides and herbicides can destroy pollinating insects and their food sources, it is very important to spray chemical sprays only when they are absolutely necessary and to apply them at the recommended rate and time. Never apply insecticides, especially Sevin (carberyl), when bees are foraging.
Spray early in the morning or late evening. If you can hold off spraying entirely except for perhaps a dormant spray, you may be pleasantly surprised to see an explosion of beneficial insects. Keep in mind, if you don’t have enough food for beneficial insects, their populations will also be lessened.
We can plant our yards to attract pollinators. We can fill our gardens with fruit-bearing trees, shrubs and flowers of bright colors and fragrances. Plant honeysuckle, bee balm, daisies, yarrow, coneflower, phlox, lavender, gaillardia, butterfly weed and a host of others.
If you are building a butterfly house, make sure there’s a perch for the butterfly to land on, otherwise, the house won’t be used. I have seen so many sold with only entrance slits. If you’ve purchased one like that, glue a twig horizontally so it sticks out about four inches at the base of the entrance.
Provide canopied trees and evergreens for nesting birds. Leave a few twigs and garden fluff around as nesting materials for all pollinators.
Even though the world is constantly evolving, we cannot live without oxygen and food. Until we come up with a better method for providing for these needs than that of Mother Nature, we should best take good care of what we have.