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

[cyprinella]

I know there's a bunch of plants in the Americas that the best pollinators are buzz pollinators, which honeybees are not. If you've got blueberry bushes, you want to attract mason bees which tend to emerge at the same time blueberry bushes flower. Tomatoes, eggplants, and potatoes are other common ones.

[robby]

That's interesting. My buzz pollinators must be the bumble bees.

[cyprinella]

Yep! They also definitely patronize blueberry bushes. I also see them a lot on my tomatillos, which are closely related to tomatoes, etc.