In Time to Celebrate National Pollinator Week, EcoWatch's Jon Davidson reports:
Get ready to toast bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. National Pollinator Week is June 17-23 and it's a perfect time to celebrate the birds, bugs and lizards that are so essential to the crops we grow, the flowers we smell, and the plants that produce the air we breathe.
The Pollinator Partnership created Pollinator Week and the U.S. Senate designated National Pollinator Week in 2007. The intention was to draw attention to the protecting pollinator habitats, since they are in steep decline due to human activity, according to Transmission & Distribution world.
The organization's Million Pollinator Garden Challenge has registered more than one million new pollinator gardens since 2016, according to Village Soup in Knox, Maine. This year's challenge asks participants to plant three pollinator-friendly plants that bloom at various times during the growing season, that is, one during the spring, one in summer, and the last in fall. That way, pollinators will have food through most of the year.
The Pollinator Partnership offers many resources and a guide to local events for anyone who wants to get involved in National Pollinator Week.
Bees, beetles, bats, butterflies, hummingbirds, flies and other pollinators help pollinate more than 75 percent of our flowering plants, and nearly 75 percent of our crops, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While these animals often go unnoticed as they carry pollen from one plant to another, there work is essential to many of the foods we eat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service points out that blueberries, almonds, squash, chocolate, and coffee all depend on pollinators. . . .
Village Soup in Knox, Maine suggests that if you want to start a pollinator garden, keep these guidelines in mind:
- Use flowering plants, which provide nectar and pollen.
- Provide water
- Grow flowers in sunny areas with wind breaks
- Focus on growing native, non-invasive species
- Shoot for a continuous bloom throughout the growing season
- Try to avoid using pesticides.
You can register your garden with the Pollinator Partnership to make your participation in National Pollinator Week known.
We're partial to the Bumble Bee Watch. From the About section:
Bumble Bee Watch is a collaborative effort to track and conserve North America’s bumble bees. This citizen science project allows for individuals to:
- Upload photos of bumble bees to start a virtual bumble bee collection;
- Identify the bumble bees in your photos and have your identifications verified by experts;
- Help researchers determine the status and conservation needs of bumble bees;
- Help locate rare or endangered populations of bumble bees;
- Learn about bumble bees, their ecology, and ongoing conservation efforts; and
- Connect with other citizen scientists.
How can you participate?
We need your help! Because these animals are widely distributed the best way to keep track of them is with an army of volunteers across the country armed with cameras. With any luck, you might help us to find remnant populations of rare species before they go extinct. Participating in Bumble Bee Watch is simple and you can get started now by creating an account via the “sign in” tab at the top of the page. Once you have an account, go out and check your garden, in parks, or any other natural areas you frequent for bumble bees. Be sure to snap a photo (learn more about how to photograph bees here) and then sign in and submit your data via our Bumble Bee Sightings form. Have fun while learning more about bumble bees and the vital role they play in our environment!
We're pleased with the instruction on how to photograph bees in particular.
In Minnesota, pollinator friends kicked off Pollinator Week a day early at the University of Minnesota's Bee Lab. Lawns to Legumes bill author Kelly Morrison tweeted:
Great way to kick off pollinator week: a tour of the Bee Lab! Amazing and important research being done here.🐝🐝🐝#protectpollinators #Lawns2Legumes #mnleg pic.twitter.com/AmjWY9g67X
— Kelly Morrison (@Morrison4MN) June 17, 2019
Minnesota House Bee Champion Rick Hansen, DFL-S. St. Paul, tweeted this snapshot:
Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum) https://t.co/6wDMfJCNQx at the U of M Bee 🐝Lab today. #PollinatorWeek #pollinatorgarden pic.twitter.com/mvNHCWCg5y
— Rep. Rick Hansen (@reprickhansen) June 16, 2019
Banner: via Pollinator.org
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