In praise of pollinators

Take your preferred pollinator out to enjoy their favorite flower – it’s National Pollinator Week!

In 2006, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to designate the last week in June as “National Pollinator Week.”

Why do pollinators matter? Pollinators — butterflies, bees, birds, flies, and lots of other insects — are crucial to food production. This is true whether you are a back yard gardener or commercial farmer. In the US, pollination by honey bees, native bees, and other insects results in $40 billion worth of products each year.

Want to know more?

• Watch this Mission: Pollinator video from the Bug Girls
• Find useful resources here including activities, research, and more
• Then test your knowledge with this Pick the Pollinator interactive quiz
• And if you’re a VA resident, you can sign up for a pollinator license plate here.

 

Go native with your bees

While honey bees are getting all the attention, the hard working mason bee is  getting the job done.

Not only is it native, the mason or orchard bee (Osmia lignaria)  is said to be a more effective pollinator than it’s European cousin the honeybee. It is also a solitary bee, less aggressive than hive dwellers.

If you want to eat your peas with honey, you’ll need to have Apis nearby. But if you need your fruits pollinated, you’ll want to reach for the mason bee (and unless you squeeze it, the bee won’t sting).

You can find more on mason bees here and here.

 

Buzz on bees

It wasn’t the bees that were illegal, it was the keeping of bees that until recently could lead to a fine from the NYC health department. But in a recent vote,  New York City’s board of health lifted a ban against beekeeping and made legal all the hidden hive-keepers.

Honeybees are important pollinators, and the welfare of the species has been recently threatened by mites and colony collapse disorder. An increase in bees being kept in diverse circumstances is good not only for the bees but also for the plants that depend on bees for their pollination. And for the people that depend on the plants that depend on the bees for pollination.

Here in DC, an uptick in interest in beekeeping is connected to an overall interest in food security. Having beehives at the White House garden also helped.

Community gardens being installed at all 56 DC Recreation Centers will include beehives and a recent urban beekeeping course offered by DC Parks and Rec was filled to beyond capacity.  It’s just, well, the bee’s knees.