On Garden Pollinators

[robby]

 Over the years, I've noticed that my garden has a range of different pollinators. Sure, the European honey bees do show up, but it's for the big events, like almond or lemon trees in blossom. Less glamorous pollinators, like native bumble bees and various flies do the everyday pollination of my squash, eggplant and plum trees. 

Here's a link to an article that describes the connection between the honey bee and modern agriculture, and points out that in a thriving diverse ecosystem (like our gardens) we still can rely on the more natural range of pollinators.

www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2017/06/13/532729268/why-honeybees-are-the-wrong-problem-to-solve

Comments

[daidoji_gisei]

That's really interesting! I do notice a lot of non-honeybees in my garden; now I'm wondering how to attract and care for the native bees in my area.

[robby]

One group of pollinators that I find especially interesting are bee like insects called hover flies. Before I knew their proper name I was calling them proto-bees.

[theora]

I love hoverflies! I also thought they must be bees, only learned otherwise quite recently.