4 Ways YOU Can Help the Pollinators

by Julie @ Southern Wild Design

It’s a shocker to learn that the little annoying insect that keeps buzzing around your head may be responsible for your food supply. Geez…if the weight of the world’s food supply were on my shoulders, I would definitely be buzzing about…in a wine sort of way!

4 ways you can help the pollinators, flowers, gardening, landscape

Did you know that in the U.S. alone, pollinating insects produce over $40 BILLION worth of products annually? (So if money gets you buzzing, then your ears should be perking up now!) Without pollinators we would not have almonds, coffee, chocolate, and tequila (the important stuff) and then of course there are the fruits and vegetables, spices, and medicines. It is estimated that one out of every three bites we take depend on the pollinators. These little guys are probably the most overworked and under appreciated of all our workforce.

What is Pollination?

Just in case you don’t really know, but are too embarrassed to ask (or look up), this is a quick and easy definition of pollination:

Pollination results when the pollen from the male part of the flower (stamen) is moved to the female part of the same or another flower (stigma) and fertilizes it, resulting in the production of fruits and seeds. Some flowers rely on the wind to move pollen, while other rely on animals to move pollen.

Flowering plants must be pollinated in order to produce the fruit. As much as 75% of all flowering plants are pollinated by non-human animals…what we call the pollinators. If the pollinator population is reduced, our food supply is also reduced. So you can see why this partnership is so critical.

Meet the Pollinators

Who (or is it what?) are these little-loved, occasionally annoying workers?

Pollinators are the animals that visit flowers in search of food and sometimes even mates, shelter and nest-building materials. Some animals, such as many bees, intentionally collect pollen, while others, such as many butterflies and birds, move pollen incidentally because the pollen sticks on their body while they are collecting nectar from the flowers. All of these animals are considered pollinators.

The cool kids on the pollinator block are the honey bees and the monarch butterflies. These are the rock stars—the poster children—of all the pollinators. But worldwide, there are an estimated 200,000 species that act as pollinators. Of these, there are about 1,000 species that are…now get this…vertebrates! That means we can also thank some birds, bats, and even monkeys, lemurs, possums and lizards!

Most likely, you know the pollinators as honey bees. It seems the buzz is all about the bees these days, but there are many kinds of bees including the solitary bees (some 4,000 species native to the U.S.) and the bubble bees.