Feeding pollinators
Additional information about this campaign
What are pollinators?
Pollinators include birds, bats, butterflies, bees, beetles and other insects that move pollen from one part of a flower to another. Pollination is important as it helps create seeds, fruits and nuts. Many plants need help from pollinators to ensure fertilization.
Why are pollinators important?
About 30% of the food we eat depends on pollination. This includes fruit such as apples and blueberries as well as vegetables such as tomatoes and peppers and oil seeds such as canola and sunflowers. Thus, a decline in pollinators means a reduction in food for human consumption.
Pollinators also play a vital role in healthy ecosystems. It is estimated that at least 75% of all flowering plants depend on pollinators for reproduction. These plants are important clean the air, stabilize soils, protect from severe weather, and support other wildlife.
Photo above: humming bird at work
Pollinators are in decline
Photo above: rusty-patched bumblebee
Unfortunately, the number of pollinators are declining rapidly around the world. It is estimated that 22% of native pollinators in North America are at an elevated risk of extinction. In New Brunswick, the yellow banded bumble bee is threatened and there is no confirmed sighting of the rusty-patched bumblebee since 2009 in Canada. Thus, it may now be extinct.
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Populations of pollinators are in decline for many reasons, including:
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Habitat loss
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Pollution
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Pesticide use
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Disease transmission
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Climate change
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What can you do?
You can help pollinators by creating pollinator zones! We need to reduce the area devoted to lawns and replace them with native plantings, including native flowers, trees and shrubs.
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Examples of native plants in New Brunswick include:
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Marsh blue violet
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Swamp milkweed
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Canada goldenrod
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Fireweed
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Joe pye weed
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New england aster
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Prickly wild rose
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You can also help pollinators by :
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participating in No Mow May (additional information below)
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eliminating pesticide use
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raising the blade of your mower (to keep the lawn at least 8 cm tall)
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reducing the number of mowings throughout the growing season
Photo above: Prickly wild rose
What is No Mow May?
No Mow May is simply not mowing your lawn during the month of May, allowing flowers to bloom in your lawn to help early season pollinators.
Why should I take part?
Mowing your lawn less allows flowering plants to bloom, providing pollinators with the nectar and pollen that they rely on to feed themselves and their offspring. The more varied structure created by longer grass will support more than just bees, including ground beetles as well as some species of butterflies that use grasses as host plants.
Photo above: yellow banded bumblebee
What can I do to educate my neighbors and passersby about my yard choices and how they benefit pollinators?
Taking the simple step of communicating why you’ve made the landscaping choices you have
to your neighbors and passersby can help them understand that you have made an intentional
decision to create habitat for wildlife. Putting up signs can be an easy and effective way to
educate others about the benefits of reducing mowing. Here is a link to download a sign to promote No Mow May. There are also plenty of examples of home made signs.
Photo above: marshland violets growing on lawn
Join the bumblebee watch!
Are you seeing bumblebees in your garden? You can take part in an effort to track and conserve North America’s bumblebees by taking photos and uploading them to a site called Bumble bee watch.