Spring has sprung! As the warm months of 2024 burst into full bloom and a fine lining of yellow dust starts to coat everything you own, nature releases its massive entourage of tiny attendants onto flower gardens and forests across the world. It’s pollen season!
While the Earth’s plant-made pixie dust might be a pest for your seasonal allergies, the infamous yellow powder has quite the fan following. Birds, bees, bats, beetles, butterflies (and so many more that don’t start with the letter ‘B’) are known as pollinators: animals that help spread pollen from one plant to another.
The months of May and June feature a host of days dedicated to bees and other pollinators, which are increasingly under threat of becoming endangered species.
In honor of World Bee Day, we’re doing a dive into the importance of pollinators, bee conservation, and how you can make a difference with a pollinator friendly garden!
What is Pollination?
Pollination is the process that allows plants to reproduce.
Similar to animals, plants also have male and female parts, typically located inside a flower. When pollen moves from the anther (male) to the stigma (female), it fertilizes the flower. The flower eventually drops or becomes fruit, which contains seeds.
Some plants are self pollinators, meaning they only need their own pollen for this process. Other plants need pollen to be transferred from plant to plant; this biodiversity prevents genetic issues from overtaking the plant species.
Why do we care about the sneezy plant dust?
Without the process of pollination, plants can’t make more of themselves.
Yes, we know pollen is annoying. Your previously washed car is now some weird hue of yellow, green, or orange, and your screen porch is COVERED in a layer of dust that renders it unsuitable for warm weather lounging. Oh, and you’ve already gone through 2 boxes of tissues this week.
We get it. Pollen doesn’t seem like your friend, but remember, this isn’t just a flower garden thing.
Pollen has a purpose.
Every fruit, vegetable, and grain you consume started out as a plant. Many of the meats we eat also rely on plant food sources to mature before they make it to your plate. The UN’s World Bee Day page, cites nearly 75% of the world’s food crops and 35% of global agricultural land as dependent on animal pollination.
According to Pollinator Partnership, an organization dedicated to the conservation of pollinators, every 1 out of 3 bites of food you take is courtesy of a pollinator. If we’re talking money, honeybees alone can be credited with somewhere between 1 and 5 billion dollars in US agribusiness. Pollinators as a whole contribute an estimated 217 billion to the global economy.
Long story short: in addition to keeping our global ecosystems healthy, diverse, and stable, pollination (and pollinators) keeps the world fed!
Pollinators of All Kinds
Pollinators come in all shapes and sizes, and they’re worth recognizing! Here’s a MVP list of the fauna that make flora possible (from the US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Website:
- Bees (duh)
- Butterflies
- Beetles - these guys get the award for oldest pollinators on the planet!
- Bats
- Moths
- Lizards
- Flies
- Wasps
- Birds
- Ants
- Mice & other small mammals
Most of these animals visit flowers to drink their sweet nectar, and in the process, they pick up pollen from the flower as well.
Other pollinators we don’t consider are natural forces, like the wind and rain. They’re important, but they’re not nearly as effective as the team of animal pollinators. According to the UN’s World Bee Day page, almost 90% of wildflowers worldwide depend on animal pollination.
Threats to Pollinators
Unfortunately, many of the major pollinator species are in decline. Some are well on their way towards making the endangered species list.
Factors like pollution, disease, pesticides, deforestation, climate change, monocropping (the agricultural practice of only growing one crop on large swaths of land), and urbanization are rampantly and rapidly eradicating the natural habitats and food sources pollinators need to survive.
If the pollinators are under threat, so are we.
It’s a strange, humbling thought, knowing that our survival depends on the lives of so many small, unsung heroes. Their endangerment, however, is also largely our fault.
Therefore, it’s our responsibility to make things right - for them, and for us. Save the bees!
World Bee Day & Other Important Dates
In acknowledgement of all that pollinators do and to call attention to the danger they’re in, the United Nations named May 20th World Bee Day. May 20th is the birthday of Anton Jansa, who pioneered modern beekeeping practices in the 18th century.
Other important dates to know in the United States are:
- Pollinator Week (June 17-23)
- Moth Week (June 20-28)
- National Honeybee Day (August 17)
- Bat Week (October 21-31)
What You Can Do
The United Nations, the NAACP, Pollinators.Org, and hundreds of other nonprofits and government sponsored websites list things you can do to help protect the world’s pollinators.
- Plant an array of diverse native plants to create a pollinator friendly garden
- Choose plants that flower in different seasons to encourage pollinators year round
- Support local apiaries and purchase honey from small, local farmers
- Limit your use of fertilizer
- Minimize pesticides in your gardening
- Donate to a nonprofit
- Shop sustainably when you can!
- Use your voice and your vote to support community preservation and conservation efforts, on both the local and national scales
- Tell your friends, your family, and your coworkers - awareness is half the battle!
In all honesty, we can’t save the world’s pollinator population on our own as individuals. It takes a village (or more accurately, a global community effort). But, change begins at home, and every step towards progress truly does make a difference.
World Bee Day might be May 20th, but bees and our other pollinator pals are hard at work every day. Treat each day like it counts! What will you do to support our pollinators?
As always, we LOVE to hear from you. Reach out to us with your questions and comments via email or social media!
Find our sources through pollinators.org, the USDA Forest Service website, and the UN website. Happy reading!