What's the rush?
- One-third of the food we eat is directly reliant upon pollinating insects.
- Habitat degradation, urbanization, industrial pollution, and agricultural chemicals have greatly reduced bee and pollinating insect populations around the world. We must act fast to counter this decline.
- Environmental activist David Suzuki has one word for this mass extermination:
"Insectageddon"
- The National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators, released by the White House in 2015, provides evidence of a concerted political effort to confront this dilemma. But we can’t rely on political action alone.
- Here are 6 effective ways you can help pollinators right now, from the comfort of your home and garden...
- Focus on native nectar and pollen-producing plants.
- Select a rotation of plants that flower from early spring to the end of autumn.
- Native plants and flowers are ideal because they have evolved to flourish in the local soil and climate conditions and do not require extensive care.
- Bees and pollinating insects, such as monarch butterflies love milkweed and pussy willow.
- Often the most beautiful plants, like hydrangeas, are not desirable sources of food for pollinators, so consider the needs of the insects over your own aesthetic priorities.
- Alternately called a bee block or mason bee house, these structures provide a habitat for bees to shelter, nest, and reproduce.
- They are typically made from wood, making them a sustainable option in their own right.
- There are countless DIY resources that will guide you through designing a bee hotel on the cheap, but they can also be purchased at local home and garden retailers.
- Lawns are almost entirely decorative from an ecological point of view and could be put to more productive use if transformed into a garden or even a sanctuary for wildflowers and plants.
- Weeds like dandelions and clover are favorites of pollinating insects, but we rarely encourage their presence and growth and we actively remove them from our lawns.
- According to National Geographic, all pesticides are a deterrent to pollinating insects and this holds true for many of the chemicals used to keep lawns attractive and weed-free.
- Rewilding your lawn is a vital step in the regeneration of healthy spaces for pollinating insects.
- Research local community gardens and gardening communities. Assist in cultivating the garden with native flowers and nectar-bearing species.
- Join or spearhead a fundraiser to raise money for a bee block for a community garden. This will foster a habitat that will attract bees and pollinating insects.
- Researchers in Nature Ecology and Evolution cited findings that suggest that diverse, rich urban gardens are a highly effective way of slowing bee decline.
- Check and see if your city is a participating member of the Bee City initiative and if not, apply to get involved.
- Pollinating insects need water and they often struggle to find consistent, safe water sources in urban and developed areas.
- Create a water source by pouring a thin layer of water over a plate or a sturdy tile or saucer. Ensure that it is as shallow as possible.
-Emma Kansiz
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Food chains worldwide are already being stressed to their limits to adequately keep the world fed. Pollinators facilitate an flourishing plant life that directly contributes to improved food production as well as the maintenance of the biodiversity of local ecosystems.
Good to see the common sense recommendations that folks can follow to protect our bee populations that, like people, will have to adapt to the changing climate which will increasingly damage local ecosystems.
Let's all.do our part to give our critical pollinators a chance to adapt and thrive In order to keep the world's population fed. They will be neccessary.
"According to the United Nations Environment Programme, of the 100 crop varieties that provide 90% of the world's food, 71 are pollinated by bees. In North America, honey bees alone pollinate nearly 95 kinds of fruits, such as almonds, avocados, cranberries and apples, in addition to commodity crops like soy."
https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/304/pollinator-protection/impacts-on-the-food-supply
MotherNature knows how to take care of her own. Stay out of her way and let her do her job. She doesn't need your help
Plant flowers that benefit pollinators, and leave dead plants and leaves on the ground during winter so they'll have shelter from the cold.
My wife and I have been doing these things with our gardens for 50 years. It's good to see people finally paying attention.
The bees die, we all die.
Yes, insect species are going extinct at a rate not seen since the Age of the Dinosaurs ended with colossal bang. Insects are not the only victims of extinction. We are now facing the same sort of threat the dinosaurs did. We are living in the Anthropogenic Mass Extinction Event--The Sixth Mass Extinction. And this one did not require a giant meteor or comet striking the Earth. All it required was a very smart but very greedy ape called Homo sapiens sapiens.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/brv.12816
We absolutely need to be concerned. As more and more free land gets developed into housing, we surely need to address proper feeding and watering of these little insects.
I know they are unpleasant to be around, but they are necessary.
Same cancer cuasing pesticides they spray our food with are killing the bees.
We should institute a biodiversity in Wisconsin and maybe even the US and stop appraising houses based on curb appeal using a monoculture grass crop aka a lawn as a standard.
Pollinators are fundamental, vital for the cycle of life on Earth.
Congress let companys use Cancer causing insecticides on our food supply that kills humans and bees
We do not need lawns. We have to ban chemicals made from petrochemicals that are harmful to insects like bees and non honey bees
My East Mountain garden is a wildlife habitat but insect and bird diversity is falling with each passing year.
Yes. No bees and no pollination, no plants or fruits for consumption.
Everyone is worried.
Protect pollinators!
We risk starving the human race to extinction because a few billionaires fight against having their harmful chemicals banned? Disgraceful!
We need the pollinators or our crops will begin to fail and much worse things will happen. The chemicals we use are killing the insects and the people who use and consume them as well. Just watch the lawyers commercials every day.
Yes... But this is not a problem isolated to the insects. We are living through a rapidly worsing Mass Extinction Event. This the the Anthropogenic Mass Extinction Event which is an acceleration of the Holocene Mass Extinction. By 2100, at least 1 MILLION species will have disappeared... Sadly, we aren't doing much to limit that destruction.
Congress has long turned their backs on the health of the the people, planet and country...the only thing that matters to them is corporate profits.
Several years ago, I remember hearing a sound byte of a someone in Congress who basically said 'Screw the bees! I could care less as long as we get xxx! Bees are not as important as people!' I continue to be appalled at this attitude - because bees are essential to food production due to the part they plan in the pollination process. The disappearance/death of bees is something that I continue to worry about, because without them, there's no more apples, cherries, nuts, cocoa beans, watermelons, avacados, peaches, pears, and mangos. No more chocolate.
Bees give us life. We must protect them
Yes, along with all the other "geddons" that too many people are willfully ignoring.