As anyone who has watched The Bee Movie knows, bees are remarkable creatures! Bees are the most effective pollinators, accounting for around 90% of plant pollination! In fact, scientists have, using a bee's wingspan and body size, determined that bees shouldn't even be able to fly! This, again, just goes to show what amazing creatures they are. Unfortunately, bees are becoming endangered due to human interference. Use of pesticides and land development are two of the activities that are contributing to this problem. However, there's hope! Read below to find out what YOU can do to help save the bees:
1. Avoid using pesticides. They aren't natural to the earth, and bees' bodies don't recognize what they are! It's like they're allergic to them. If you absolutely have to treat your yard with something, try non-synthetic pesticides instead. Organic pesticides or even natural ones, like vegetable oil spray, can be found easily and are inexpensive. It is also more beneficial to you and your family's health, as it has been proven that, like bees, pesticides hurt us, too. 2. Plant trees - for bees! While flowering plants are beneficial to bees, trees provide hundreds of additional blossoms to provide nectar for bees. They're also good for the environment in general, as trees give us the oxygen we need to breathe. 3. Create a habitat for bees! Use a bird bath filled with some pebbles, or purchase a "bee condo". There are several organizations that will provide a kit or home for bees to a school, group, or organization. Check out the links at the bottom of the How to Help to purchase or apply for a native bee home.
Butterflies
Butterflies are less efficient pollinators than bees, but they are no less important. They help keep the environment in balance by helping plants grow and playing their part in the food chain. Both of these things are vital to the survival of many other living creatures besides themselves. Like bees, butterflies are also declining in number, for many of the same reasons. Pesticides and herbicides are killing the plants they need to eat, and human expansion has killed off much of the milkweed population, which is the favorite food of the monarch butterfly. Besides not using pesticides and creating a habitat for them - as I mentioned in the previous section - you can also help butterflies in your community by:
1. Planting milkweed in your garden! Milkweed is one of the best plants for butterflies, particularly monarchs (pictured above, right). Their caterpillars won't feed on any other leaves! In addition, planting milkweed promotes biodiversity - or a wide variety of animal/plants species - in your neighborhood. 2. Try to avoid foods that are "genetically engineered". This means that the crops were sprayed with pesticides that kill not just weeds around them, but also other plants like milkweed, which is detrimental to butterflies. 3. Use wood that is FSC certified. This title means that the wood was taken from forests that are responsibly managed. Although using this wood is beneficial to the environment as a whole, it also helps monarch butterflies particularly. Monarchs rely on forests in Mexico to survive in the winter, so purchasing FSC certified wood or other products will help!
Birds
Birds are one of the primary pollinators of wildflowers throughout the world. There are over 2,000 species that are included in this group! About 17% of them are endangered - and this may not seem like a large number, but it is. As mentioned before, most of the food we eat would not be possible without pollinators - imagine never eating an apple again! Although only one pollinating bird resides here on the east coast - the ruby-throated hummingbird - there are still ways you can help them out:
1. Like butterflies, hummingbirds have favorite types of plants to feast on. Some examples would be native honeysuckle, various types of bee balm, and cardinal flower! Plant some in your garden, and hummingbirds will thank you! 2. Make sure there are places in your yard, particularly near flowers, that could act as a perch for hummingbirds. They need to rest too! They also use perches for sleeping, or surveying their territory. This added detail will make your garden even more inviting for these petite pollinators! 3. Hang a hummingbird feeder in your yard, filled with sugar water (four parts hot water to one part white sugar, boiled for around a minute). Don't use honey or anything artificial! The feeder should be in the shade, so the sugar mixture doesn't ferment in the sun. Change and clean the feeders frequently - about twice a week in warm weather. It may sound like a lot to do at first, but hummingbirds and other pollinators really aren't asking for much. After all, they give us 90% of the plants we eat, so give some of that love back!
There are many types of pollinators besides these. Ants, beetles, bats, and even lemurs - so many other animals and insects are pollinators! However, I wanted to introduce these three as they are the most common, and dwell right here in New Jersey!
All of the steps I've listed above are helpful, but there are two I haven't mentioned. These are the easiest and most important in the journey to help pollinators: LEARN MORE and SPREAD THE WORD! And, in planting your native flowers and putting up your hummingbird feeders, make sure that you HAVE FUN!