The importance of pollinators

June 17-23 was National Pollinators Week, a week set aside to raise awareness for honeybees and other insects that are essential for pollinating so many of the crops that we grow for food and fiber. While a number of different insects and birds play a role in pollination, honey bees are by far the most important pollinating species.

Much attention has been paid in the last several years to the plight of honey bees. This is largely due to recurring colony losses that are putting a strain on commercial beekeepers. There are some benefits to this increased attention, as there seems to be a greater interest in pollinator conservation and many new hobbyist beekeepers have started hives. Still, many challenges remain, as beekeepers continue to struggle with insect and disease pests, lack of food and forage for bees, unintentional pesticide exposures, and other issues that weaken hives and lead to colony losses. 

The Arboretum's gardens, including the Butterfly Garden, demonstrate landscape plantings that provide food and habit for pollinators. Photo: Lindsay J., Pitt County Arboretum Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.

We know that honey bees are directly responsible for pollinating about one-third of the food that we eat, including almost all of our fruits and vegetables. While the claim that we would starve without bees is somewhat misleading (we’d still have most of our grain crops, and our livestock, so it’s not like food would disappear), there would unquestionably be an incredible reduction in both the quantity and diversity of our food supply without honey bees.  

So what can we do to help? While more beekeepers are a good thing, certainly not everyone who cares about this issue is able to start their own hive. Non-beekeepers can help by being cautious about which pesticides they use in their gardens, and when. Wherever possible, use lower-toxicity, narrow-spectrum pesticides rather than higher-toxicity, broad-spectrum ones, and limit spraying as much as possible on plants that are actively blooming. Of course, gardeners can and should incorporate non-chemical methods of pest management as well. Even small things like planting more flowers or letting temporary weeds like henbit and dandelion bloom in the lawn rather than rush to kill them can be helpful. Bees feed on nectar and pollen from flowering plants, so the more plants in bloom, the less likely bees will have trouble finding food.

Above: Honeybee prepares to pollinate a plant. Right: Butterfly eating nectar from a purple coneflower in the Arboretum's Butterfly Garden.  Photo credit, right: Lindsay J., Master Gardener

Education is also important. New beekeepers need to know how to properly care for their bees to keep their hives healthy and new audiences need to be introduced to beekeeping. In Pitt County, the Tar River Beekeepers Association, a county chapter of the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association, offers an introductory beekeeping course each spring and meets monthly throughout the year to share information among members. Home gardeners who want to help support pollinators need to know exactly which plants to incorporate in their landscapes to do so. The Pitt County Arboretum, like many public garden spaces, demonstrates landscape plantings that provide food and habitat for pollinators including in the Butterfly Garden, as well as use of native plants throughout many of the Arboretum’s other gardens.

Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center.  If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705.